The new kids
by AshNPadfoot
Summary: Ashleigh and Drew had everything ripped from them in thier fifth year and were being shipped off to Hogwarts. Ashleigh has her eyes on Sirius Black but Drew tries to steer her away from him. So do many others but she still keeps fighting.
1. Chapter 1

I was in my room listening to my music waiting for my twin brother to walk in. He always came in about this time of night to do homework. They went to the same wizarding school and had the same classes. Every morning they woke up early and flooed to school at their scheduled time. And every afternoon they flooed back. Their mom always had dinner on the table when they were done with their homework. Their lives were just one big routine in a routine like world. Drew walked in like clock work.

"hey Ash, how's charms coming?" He asked. He hated charms and I hated DADA.

"Pretty good. Drew? Do you ever feel like our lives are just a little too routine like?" I asked him. He nodded. He hated routine just as much as I but we still kept getting dragged into it.

"Yeah, its kind of like we are on one of those shows on muggle t.v. The ones with the two kids and perfect parents. The stay at home mom and working dad. Kids top of their class." He laughed realizing how sad our little life sounded.

"Pathetic huh?" I said and we got back to our work. We were listening to the shrunken heads, they were a Carribbean band in the wizarding community. We once went to the Bahamas and saw them in concert while on vacation. Our dad's job with the ministry involved a lot of travel.

"Kids!" Our moms voice was heard from downstairs. We looked at each other and smiled.

"Like clock work." We said in unison. We walked downstairs and sat down at the table in our usual spots. Tonight was different. I could just feel it. Dad wasn't at the table yet.

"hey mom, where's dad?" I asked her as she set the last of the dinner on the table. She looked around and then at us. She seemed a little off but that was replaced by a reassuring smile.

"He's running late at work tonight. He wont be here in time for dinner. So lets eat. Ok." She said putting some potatoes on her plate. We started to eat in silence. Usually dinner was full of conversation aboutour days and classes and homework and the latest gossip. But right now there was only silence.

"Mom, today we learned how to change others hair color. And we were supposed to change our own hair color but we already know that." I said winking at Drew. We were born Megamorphous'. I took a drink of my milk. My mom believed in giving us well balanced meals and drinks. We never really got many sugary things or sodas or anything that was junk food unless we used our own money. My mom didn't seem to be listening. I glanced at Drew and he shrugged.

"Mom are you ok?" Drew asked. She glanced up at him surprised that someone else was in the room.

"Yes, yeah, of course." She mumbled. I was about to ask her what was wrong when the front door swung open with such force that it shook the whole house. Instinctively, Drew, my mom and I looked toward the door way of the dining room looking toward the entry hallway. Three tall figures walked in wearing black robes and masks. My mom grabbed us and we ran upstairs. She put a charm on her room that we had entered. Flashes of green light and red light were darting at us and past us.

"Mom what's going on! Who are those people!" I screamed. She grabbed the container of floo powder and handed it to us.

"I need you guys to go. Go to Diagon Alley and then to the leaky cauldron. Ask for a guy named Albus Dumbledore. The guy will know who you are talking about." She said to us when there was an explosion and we heard our dad yell our names.

"Daddy!" I screamed hoping he would join us. MY mom looked back toward the door. She knew what was coming. She saw that we were hesitant to leave her. She grabbed the floo powder from Drew's hands and pushed us both into the fire.

"I love you guys so much. So, so much." She said with tears in her eyes. She threw the powder into the fire and yelled Diagon Alley. The scene before us swirled too fast and we couldn't jump out in time to be with our mom. We landed in a dark and drab alley. We both stepped out of the fire.

"We need some floo powder!" Drew said. I looked around from some but we didn't see any in sight. We saw the sign that said 'Leaky Cauldron' on it. We entered the place in a hurry looking for some powder. There weren't a lot of people in there, we went straight for the guy in charge.

"We need some floo powder. Do you have any?" I asked him. He was a tall and muscular guy. He had long hair and dark eyes. He was polishing off a drink inside of a mug. He glanced down and then he shook his head no.

"Does anyone have any floo powder?" We asked all of the people sitting in the place having a good time while we were scared to death. An elderly man with a long white beard and half moon glasses stood up. He was one of the tallest people I have ever seen.

"I have some. May I ask why you need it?" He asked.

"Our parents, they are in trouble. We need to go back and help them." Drew said. I nodded. I was still in shock over what had happened and I was fearing that when we got there something might be wrong.

"I'll go with you." He said in a gentle voice.

"Fine, whatever, lets just go." Drew said taking me by the hand and leading me back to the fire that we came from. The man got into the fire with us and we yelled our household name and everything started to whirl around us.

We arrived in the fire place at our house and the first thing we saw was our mom lying on the floor. Her eyes were wide open, as if she was scared to death. Terrified. I dropped to the floor next to her.

"mom, no. Mommy wake up!" said shaking her body. Drew ran past me and into the hallway.

"NO!" I heard him yell. I was crying too hard to get up and see what was wrong. A soft hand was laid on my shoulder. The elderly man was kindly taking me away from my mom's body. I didn't fight it, I couldn't stand there looking at her anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't remember anything from the next few days we were being placed from house to house to house. Drew and I stayed together, our belongings were being sold, the house, cars and furniture. We got to keep anything we wanted and could bring to England. We were being shipped to England, where our great grandfather lived. We had to leave everything we knew and start all over again. But at least we had each other. We had to attend a new school called Hogwarts, a boarding school.

We sat next to each other on the train to school. It was our fifth year. I glanced out the window at the rolling meadows that we were passing. We had a compartment to ourselves. We haven't talked about anything that has happened. We barely talked at all now.

"Drew?" I asked. He looked up from his book. He never was the book worm type but lately he has been escaping into other worlds. Escaping from our world.

"yeah?" He asked.

"I miss clock work." I said. He nodded and I sat next to him. We both had some tears in our eyes. He put his book away and turned me toward him.

"Lets make a pact. You and me, till the end. We will never leave each others' side. You're all I have. And vice versa." He said. I nodded and we pinkie swore.

Just then 4 guys walked into our compartment. One had bright blue eyes and dark black hair. The other one had messy black hair and hazel eyes that just fit behind the glasses. The third guy to walk in had sandy blonde hair and worn out eyes. He looked tired. Maybe he had a long night. And the forth was a chubby little guy with brown mousy hair and brown eyes.

"I'm sorry but can we come into here? Someone kind of kicked us out of the compartment we were in." Said the guy with messy hair and glasses. He looked kind of hurt. I looked at Drew and he gave a slight nod.

"Yeah." I said. Three guys piled in the seat across from us and the guy who looked tired sat next to me. We sat there in awkward silence until the guy with blue eyes broke it.

"I'm Sirius." He said.

"About what?" I asked confused. All four of them laughed and Drew glared at them. He was being protective of me. They saw the look and stopped talking.

"No, no. That's my name. I'm Sirius Black. And this is James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin" Sirius said pointing to each boy as he said their name. I said a small sheepish hi.

"I'm Ashleigh, and this is Andrew." I said smiling slightly. The boy named James was staring at me curiously.

"Where are you from?" He asked me.

"The US." I said.

"I thought I recognized your accent. Which part?" He asked me.

"We're from California." I said.

"We? Are you brother and sister?" Sirius asked. I nodded.

"Twins." Drew said. It was the first time he had talked since they came in. He went back to his book when they all stared at him. Then they turned their attention to me.

"Twins? How awesome!" Remus said. They talked amongst themselves and I was getting bored.

"Drew? Can I sit next to the window?" I asked him. He nodded and got up to trade me places. I stood up also and the train jerked and I fell on top of Sirius. He caught me and helped me back to my feet. He smiled and my heart gave a small leap. He was very attractive.

"Are you ok?" Drew asked me helping me before Sirius could say anything. I nodded and sat down watching the scenery go by. I felt embarrassed and I didn't want them to see my crimson color. Before we left to go to school I had changed my hair to shoulder length brown hair with blonde highlights. My hair used to be my main worry and I always kept up with the trends but lately I just choose one that I have liked for a while. I didn't care what the trends were. I didn't want people at our new school to know about my special additions.

"You guys are new to Hogwarts?" Remus asked. I nodded.

"What brings you to Hogwarts now? You guys cant be in your first year." Sirius said.

"No, its our fifth year. We came here so late cause we just moved and we had to change schools." I said. I didn't want to tell them why we had to change schools. I hated it when I tell someone something and they say, "oh, im sorry".

"That's great! We are in 5th year too!" Sirius said with a smile on his face. His smile suited him well.

"it's almost time to change Ash." Drew said looking at his watch. He was my older brother and he had always looked out for me even if it was small. I nodded and got up to get to my luggage. I would forget to breath sometimes if it weren't for Drew.

"Yeah we should change also." Peter said in a small voice. Everyone was getting their school robes out of their luggage when the door burst open. I screamed because it reminded me of that night. I looked toward the door and a guy with slick white hair was standing in the doorway. Behind him was a guy with greasy hair and a hooked nose.

"Hey Malfoy, what's you problem?" James asked, his wand was raised and ready for a fight.

"We came to check on you guys. Make sure you were staying away from our girls." Malfoy said, a slight smirk on his face. Sirius and James turned beet red. They looked as if smoke was about to come out of their ears.

"They aren't your girls. So stuff it Malfoy!" James said through gritted teeth. Malfoy glanced over at me. I felt like a deer in headlights. He smiled a cocky smile. Drew who was at my side moved in front of me. He saw and recognized the look in Malfoy's eyes and he didn't like it.

"Who are the new kids?" He asked.

"None of your business!" Remus said speaking up.

"Get out of here or I will jinx you so bad your mom will feel it!" Sirius said.

"Oooo." Malfoy said pretending to be scared. He looked toward me one more time and left laughing. I whispered something under my breath and pointed my wand at him. He became bald. The whole compartment laughed and looked at me. I shrugged.

"I didn't like the way he looked at me. It will wear off soon." I said. I grabbed my robes and slid them on over my clothes. I pulled them straight down and looked at them with disguist. Drew knew what I was thinking and we just gave each other a knowing smile.

"I think we are going to like you!" Remus said. I was sitting next to him again.

"Who was that guy?" I asked him.

"Just the biggest slimy git alive." Sirius growled.

"So its safe to say that you don't like him?" I said laughing at Sirius' comment. They all shook their head no including Drew.

"You don't even know him! There could be more to him!" I said facing him. He was pulling on his robes too.

"No, I don't know him. But I didn't like the way he acted or looked." Drew said placing his book in his luggage.

"Yeah but you never know what is beneath the surface. Like mom always…" I stopped when I realized that I had mentioned mom. Drew gave me a small sideways hug. It was a reassuring hug, he knew what I meant and it stopped the tears from flowing when I knew that I wasn't alone. We were in this together.


	3. Chapter 3

The train came to a halt and the doors automatically opened. The four guys got up, leaving their stuff. We just followed them. There were horseless carriages that people were piling into. Drew lead the way to one and I followed him. We sat along and it started to move. When we arrived at the castle a stern looking lady herded Drew and I into an office.

"I am Professor McGonagull. I wanted to sort you privately, so not to embarrass you." She said.

"Sort us?" I asked. She nodded and pulled down an old shabby hat from the shelf.

"Yes, we have four different houses within the school. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor. This hat will sort you into the houses that are closely matched with your personality traits." The Professor said.

"But we don't want to split up!" I said.

"Well, we have to sort you. Who knows, you may end up in the same house." She said. She slipped the hat onto my head. It covered my eyes and then I heard it speak.

"Your shy and very talented. But you are also very courageous. Gryffindor!" She pulled the hat off my head and handed it to Drew. He put it on and a few seconds later the hat yelled.

"Ravenclaw!" Both of our faces fell when they realized that they weren't together.

"Do we get to see each other at all?" I asked.

"Of course, you'll have classes together and you can eat together. And on the weekends you can do what you want!" The professor said. They looked at each other dubiously. She led them out and brought them into a huge dining hall. There were four different tables; each one was decorated in different colors. She said something to Drew and he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. Then she pointed to a table decorated with gold and red.

"That's your table." She said and then she left again. I went toward the table. People near me were staring.

"Hey! Ashleigh over here!" I heard Sirius' voice. I spotted him near the middle. He was making a place for me between him and another girl. I slowly walked up to him and gave him a slight smile.

"You guys were split up huh?" he asked when I sat down. We were really close together.

"Yeah." I glanced at his table. He was sitting there not saying a word. He used to be the most popular guy in our old school. Now it was sad to see that he didn't have anyone to talk to. I sighed with relief when I saw some guy with bright green eyes talking to them. I turned my attention to the crowd of young people standing between the Ravenclaw table and the gryffindor table. Remus was explaining to me that they were all the first years and they were now being sorted into the houses. I looked up at the teacher's table and recognized the elderly man with half moon glasses.

"Who is that?" I asked nodding toward the man. Remus took his eyes off of the first years and glanced up.

"Oh, that's Headmaster Dumbledore. He is in charge of everything here. He's a pretty decent guy." He said. I nodded. I remembered when I first met him, he helped me and Drew with everything, including contacting our Great grandfather that we never knew about. All of the first years were sorted and then the feast began. There were all types of food, some things that I had never heard of.

After the feast we were to follow the prefects to our dormitories. I had no idea where my luggage was and where I was to be sleeping.

"Hey, do you guys know where I would be sleeping? I hope I am not with the first years." I said. Remus laughed.

"You'll be sleeping with the fifth years. We always keep the years separated. Here is Lily." He said. Lily was walking beside us.

"Lily this is Ashleigh, she is new to Hogwarts. Could you show her where she is sleeping?" Remus asked. I waved at Lily and smiled.

"Of Course. Nice to you meet you. You will love it here! Where are you coming from?" She asked me.

"America. I lived in California my whole life." I said. When we got into the common room she led me up the stairs to the girls dormitory. As soon as I walked in I saw my bed with my trunk at the foot of the bed. I plopped down on the bed and closed my eyes. I was exhausted. I fell asleep without changing.

The next morning I woke up to the slight light coming from the window. I checked my watch and it said it was 6:30. I got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth. The warm water felt like heaven, I always loved taking showers. I got out and pulled my hair into my towel. I attacked my teeth next making sure that they were clean enough. Then I pulled on my jeans and an old t-shirt I had gotten from school last year. I did a pulled the towel off my head and brushed my hair. I let it air dry. When my hair air-dries it feels lighter and it is extremely wavy. I love it when it looks like that.

"Hey." I heard Lily say from the doorway. She was dressed in dark green cotton pajamas, which made her eyes look even greener. And her hair fiery red. I smiled. She seemed really cool; I hoped we would be friends.

"Hey, where do we go for breakfast?" I asked her. My stomach was yearning for food.

"Same place we had dinner. If you wait I'll walk with you." She said.

"Ok, thanks, I'll wait in the common room. Don't take too long though, I'm starving." I said holding my stomach. She laughed.

"Ok, if I'm not down there in 10 minutes go ahead and leave without me." She said. I smiled and left. She was pretty cool.

I entered the common room at 7 and barely anyone was there. Sirius came down alone screaming at James to hurry up. I had already been waiting about 10 minutes for Lily and I was desperately hungry. Sirius turned around and ran right into me.

"Oh, i'm sorry, I didn't see you. Are you heading to breakfast?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'm waiting for Lily to come down but she is taking so long." I said. He laughed.

"Can I walk you to breakfast than?" He asked.

"Sure, I'd love that." I said. We walked out of the portrait hole and headed toward the Great Hall.

"So, do you have a boyfriend? Back home I mean." He asked me. I smiled. I had tons of boyfriends in the past but no one at the moment. I never even told half the guys I used to see that I was leaving. Why would I? They didn't really matter to me. I never loved any of them.

"I had tons of boyfriends but I always broke it off with anyone when I went on summer vacation. Long distance things don't work for me." I said to him. He looked impressed. As if he didn't expect me to be such a player.

"Impressive, I wouldn't have thought of you as that type of girl." He said.

"I'm not… anymore. Do you have a girlfriend? With all the girl I saw staring at you, you have a lot to choose from." I said.

"Jealous?" He said smirking.

"Haha, no." I said.

"Yeah I kind of do right now." He said. I nodded and smiled.

We finally reached the hall and I sat at the table. Drew was sitting with that guy from last night at his table eating.

"Would you excuse me?" I asked him and I left without letting him respond. I sat next to Drew at his table and gave him a sideways hug.

"Hey bro. How was your first night?" I asked him.

"Pretty good. Um, Ash this is Derek. Derek this is my twin sister Ashleigh." Drew said. Derek held out his hand and I went to shake his hand but he turned mine and kissed the top of it.

"Oh, a ladies man?" I said in a flirtatious voice.

"No just a gentleman." He said blushing. He was cute; his eyes were his best feature. He had black hair. He really looked Irish.

"Well, I guess I better get back to my table. I'm starving. I'll see you later!" I said giving Drew another hug. I was always a very physical person. I gave hugs to tons of people because I loved the feel of someone being there for me physically.

"Hey, do you play Quidditch?" Lily asked me when I sat down next to her.

"Yeah I was one of the best at my old school." I said. Both Drew and I went out for the Quidditch team because our dad used to be the champion of his Quidditch team. My mom was heat broken when she found out that I made the team. She was always the type who thought girls shouldn't play sports but she soon got over it. I was the best chaser and Drew was the best Keeper.

"Well they are having Quidditch try outs tonight on the field. Word is they are looking for a chaser and a beater. You interested?" Lily asked me. I shrugged.

"Why not?" I said. Just then James and Sirius swooped down on us.

"Did I hear Quidditch?" Sirius said. I had some bacon in my mouth so I didn't say anything.

"Yes, Ashleigh is thinking about trying out tonight." Lily said.

"Really? What position do you play?" James asked me. He sat down across from me and started to fill his plate.

"Chaser." I said. He smiled.

"So do I. I love playing its gets my mind off things." He said. I nodded. I knew what he meant.


	4. Chapter 4

When I got my classes I compared my schedule with Drew's we both had Potions, Herbology and Magical Creatures with me. We also took muggle studies together. We thought it would be an easy class since we grew up on muggle inventions.

"So you have a twin brother?" Lily asked. I nodded and pointed to Drew who was getting up from his table with Derek. Lily's mouth parted and her eyes got big.

"He's cute!" She said. I laughed, a lot of girls thought he was cute. He had shaggy brown hair that fell perfectly around his head; it wasn't too short and not too long. Right in the middle. His body was muscular and tall and his smile was award winning. He loved having his eyes hazel and kept them that way all the time.

"I'm sure your not the only one who thinks so." I said. I noticed a saddened look on James' face when Lily had said he was cute. Did James like Lily? If he did she probably didn't like him back or she didn't know. We got up and went to our first classes of the day. I had every class with Lily except for Muggle Studies. I only knew Sirius and Drew in the class.

"This is Muggle Studies, I know some of you took this class to get an easy A but its not going to be as simple as you think." Professor Samson said. He pulled a cover off of a very old T.V. Drew and I were sitting next to each other. We smirked at each other. We missed watching T.V. Our favorite show was the Brady Bunch.

"Does anyone know what this is?" He asked the class. Drew and I raised our hands. No one else in the class knew what it was. He turned his attention to us.

"Would one of you like to explain?" he asked.

"Can I see it? Does it work?" I asked him. He nodded. I got up and went to the T.V. and I turned it to a channel. The Brady Bunch theme came on. I laughed.

"I know this episode. Remember, 'Marsha Marsha Marsha!'" Drew and I laughed; it was one of the funniest.

"So obviously you know what it is." He said turning it off. I nodded and rolled my eyes when he wasn't looking.

"Would you care to explain what it is?" He asked.

"It's a T.V. it has shows on it. Actors on the show memorize the script they are given and you get to watch a type of play without leaving your home…. Wait, I thought nothing electronic worked on grounds. How did you get that to work?" I asked him. He smiled.

"Someone read Hogwarts: A History. I used magic to get it to run. But only with the permission of the Headmaster." Professor Samson said. He then went on with the rest of class showing us the power of the media.

"The Headmaster has asked me for some suggestions on what would make Hogwarts more culturally rounded. It has come to his attention that some of the parents are complaining that the kids are getting much culture." The professor said.

"Who needs culture?" Sirius snorted. I gave him a sharp look.

"Well, Mr. Black, many people would love to experience other cultures." The Professor said.

"I have a suggestion." I said raising my hand.

"Why don't we have international night once a week. We can serve food from one country or culture once a week. Like Mexican one week and Italian another. Chinese, and so on." I said. I loved food it was one of my favorite things. And food from other cultures was just good.

"I like that idea. I'll bring it up to him." The Professor said and then he dismissed class. I walked with Drew and Sirius out of the class and Sirius ran off to catch some friends.

"I'm trying out for Qudditch tonight." I said playing with a stray thread from my bag. He smiled, he knew about my love for Quidditch.

"I'm glad. I'm trying out too." He said.

"Oh god, we will end up playing against each other. You know how that's going to be." I said laughing. We were two of the best.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." He said. I gave him a bad look.

"EASY! I don't need your pity. I'll still kick your ass." I said.

We went our separate ways and I ran up to my dorm room to change my clothes and grab my broom. I was so psyched! I pulled my robes off and put on some tighter jeans and my hooded sweatshirt. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail leaving my bangs down and to the side. I put on my black tennis shoes and spread some lip-gloss on my lips. Then I grabbed my broom and rocketed down the stairs and out of the common room. Sirius saw me wondering around trying to find my way to the front door.

"Lost?" He asked. I nodded and sighed. He laughed and led me out onto the Quidditch field. There were about ten people waiting in their regular clothes, I just joined the line. There were five guys standing in front of everyone with their uniforms on. The sun hadn't set yet and we were on borrowed time, 45 minutes to an hour tops till it got dark.

"Ok, this is how I want it to go! Beaters to the right and Chasers to the left! James with work with the Chasers and Sirius will work with the beaters." A guy with short blonde hair said. He must have been the Captain of the team. I went over to James and he nodded. I nodded back. I was ready to show my best. He asked us to do some drills with the others and I was by far the best. The only time I messed up was when a bludger came my way and I fell off my broom. Luckily I was only 15 feet off the ground when it hit me. I jumped back up off the ground.

"Broom!" I yelled with my hand raised. My hand caught it and I jumped back on. By this time we were in a small scrimmage. I was determined to be on this team. I flew back into the air ready to catch the Quaffle. Before I caught it another Bludger was heading toward my head. I ducked and swerved, still managing to catch the Quaffle. I raced down the field looking for one of my team members but no one was in sight. They were behind me, so I took the opportunity to shoot and I faked left and the keeper went for it but I threw it to the right with perfect aim. SCORE! My team cheered and the game was over.

"Ok, I will have a team meeting and then you will see who made it later tonight. You all did good and I wish I could take you all in but I only need two." He said and everyone left. I still didn't know my way around the castle so I just followed everyone. I recognized one of the girls in my dorm; she wanted to be a beater.

"Hi, I'm Ashleigh." I said extending my hand. She shook it.

"I'm Amber." She said. I remember that she wasn't that good of a beater but she held her own. We entered the common room and I saw Lily sitting in a chair by the fire. I joined her.

"Hey! I think I made an impression." I said laughing. She put her book down and smiled.

"I'm glad, I have to say this is the happiest I have seen you since I met you." She said. Amber went up to the dorm and came back down. She was at the opposite end of the common room.

"Do you know Amber?" I asked Lily.

"Yeah. She is Sirius' girlfriend. She can also be a prat at times." Lily said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"She's the most popular girl in the entire school. Not just in Gryffindor or our class." Lily said. What would Lily say if she knew that I used to be the most popular girl in school?

"Oh, is that all? Like she hasn't done anything to you or anything?" I ask.

"No she just calls me names and stuff but nothing to big. She hasn't played a prank on me or anything. I just hate the way she treats people. Just like the Maurders." Lily said.

"Who are the Mauraders?" I asked.

"Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. They walk around like they own this school. Its pathetic."

"Oh. So you don't like James?" I asked. She looked at me with disguist.

"God no! what would make you think that?" She asked.

"I don't know. Its obvious that he likes you." I said. Just then the team walked in and my attention went toward them.

"Hey listen up!" Smauels said. He was the team captain, he had the voice for it.

"Hey! Gryffindors' new Quidditch team members will be… Amber Rose as a beater…" Everyone cheered for her in the house except for a handful of people.

"…and Ashleigh Hewitt as the chaser! The alternates will be Bridget for chaser and Simon for Beater." He said. I had such a huge smile on my face I couldn't help but jump up and down and hug Lily.

"Oh my God! Do you know where the Ravenclaw common room is?" I asked her. She shook her head no and I couldn't believe that I was chosen and I couldn't tell Drew. Samuels walked up to me.

"Congratulations. You blew me away on the field. Where did you learn to play like that?" he asked me. My smile went from huge to non existant.

"My dad. He taught both myself and my twin brother." I said remembering all the afternoons and weekends that we spent together learning how to play.

"Is your twin brother in this house? Why didn't he try out?" He asked me.

"Oh, we got separated. He's in Ravenclaw. And he will make the team. He was the best Keeper in our school and out of all the other schools we have played." I told him some stories of Drew's saves and his face was getting whiter and whiter.

"So we have some tough competition." He said. I was hoping that he wouldn't regret choosing me.

"Yeah, and I have to figure out some new ways to get the ball into the goal cause he knows all my tricks." I told him. He looked sick to his stomach and then he excused himself and I went up to bed. It was a great day.


	5. Chapter 5

For a month things were running smoothly. Drew got to become the keeper of his team and Quidditch practices were really paying off. Of course Amber kept messing up or wouldn't even touch the ball making all the work land on Sirius. We were a great team; I spent a lot of time with Samuels working on plays for the first game, which was against Ravenclaw. We were definitely going to kick their butts. We decided to lie heavily on our seeker, partly because Drew was such a good Keeper and partly because their seeker sucked this year. Our first game of the year was happening tomorrow night. I was so excited.

"Class, Professor Dumbledore and I were chatting and he has decided to give International night a serious consideration. He has also joined the school into the International Quidditch Junior League. There will be players from schools that are in this program who will come to our school or Vice versa and we will have an official school team." Professor Samson said. I looked at Derek with huge eyes. Our old school used to be in the League and we were both on the team. It couldn't be possible that we will be on the same team for this league.

"Are you serious? That's great! When are try outs?" I asked him.

"Tonight. It's all so short notice. But meet Professor Dumbledore on the field tonight." He said and he went back to teaching. I couldn't help but be happy and jumpy all through class. When we were finally dismissed I shot out of the class with Drew and we started talking excitedly.

"This is so great. We will end up playing against our old school. I wonder if John is still on the team." I said.

"He is." Drew said.

"How do you know?" I asked him.

"We owl each other." He said.

"You didn't tell me that you were still talking to John. It would have been nice if you did." I said. He shrugged.

"Its not that big of a deal." He said and he went to his house. Of course it was a big deal! John and I used to go out, he was my longest relationship. We were together for 6 months until we had sex and then it all just fell apart and so did we. I never did tell Drew what had happened. I shook it off; right now I had to concentrate on getting on the team.

That night I walked down to the field with my whole team and some others who thought about coming onto the team and some people who just wanted to watch. When we arrived there were all four Quidditch teams and about 20 other people. The separated us into different positions. I hung out with James and Derek, all three of us were going out for Chasers. Everyone got to try out and they were either dismissed right away or were told to wait. It came down to me, James, Derek and 3 different Slytherins for chasers. We played against each other and then we sat down on the edge of the field waiting for the judges to finish their list of players. They got rid of the three slytherins and it was just we three, we had made it. For the keeper they chose Drew and for the beater they had Sirius and a girl from Hufflepuff. And the seeker was some guy in 3rd year in Slytherin. The team was picked and we all had alternates for the positions too. I was so happy I gave Derek a big hug that almost knocked him to the ground but he caught me by the waist and twirled me around anyway. I smiled and he smiled back. He was cute, and nice and my brother liked him. That's three for three; maybe I should ask him out.

"You know our first Hogsmeade weekend is coming up. Would you like to go with me?" He asked me. I blushed and then I looked to the floor and nodded.

"I'd love to." I said blushing. We went our separate ways and I followed James and Sirius to the common room.

"Aren't you guys excited?" I asked jumping up and down. This was the happiest I had been since ever. I was jumping up and down on top of their backs. James was welcoming, he didn't care. He was just as happy as I was. But Sirius was a little stiff.

"Sorry, i'm just so happy." I said. He gave a weak smile, said he had to do something and ran off in the opposite direction.

"Does he really not like me that much?" I asked James we were close to the common room.

"Its not that. He has a girlfriend. They have been on again and off again since puberty. And, well, she has him wrapped around her little finger. And somehow she always knows what happens. So he gets a little weird when girls touch him." James said. I gave him an 'uhuh' look.

"He's Whipped!" I said increasing the volume on the word 'whipped'. James chuckled.

"And you don't have a girlfriend?" I asked him. He seemed to get a little nervous. Probably thought I was going to flirt with him. He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head no.

"And you like Lily right?" I asked looking at him sideways. He eyes got big and his mouth was wide open.

"How do you know? I only asked her out once. And I didn't make a big deal out of it." James said. He had suddenly stopped.

"I see the way you look at her. And the way you reacted when she said she thought my brother was cute. I don't know if she likes you." I said knowing he might ask that question next.

"Yeah I still like her. No girl has ever turned me down. I guess it's kind of a turn on." James said stepping through the portrait hole after I had muttered the password. We smiled, our friendship was growing but we had to go our different ways. Me with Lily and him with his friends. I left him and went straight for Lily. I heard a lot of loud cheering and Lily's eyes lit up when she saw me.

"So?" She asked me expectantly. I kind of frowned, just to trick her though.

"Oh, no, Ash. I'm sorry." She said rushing over to give me a hug.

"I'm made it! I'm on the team!" I said laughing. She hit my arm and shook her head.

"You're horrible." She said.

"I know. But it was funny huh?" I said.

"Are you ready for the game tomorrow morning?" She asked me. I nodded excitedly. I was ready. I was pumped. I was just plain excited. I didn't know how I would be able to sleep through the night.

I did eventually sleep and in the morning I woke up early. I snuck up to the boys' dormitory and I found Sirius' and James' room. I knocked really hard and then something fell to the floor. The door opened and a sleepy looking Remus was standing there. He motioned for me to come in.

"Sirius' its for you!" he barked and collapsed on his bed with a thud.

"Actually its for both Sirius AND James. WAKE UP! First game is today!" I said. James looked at me and rolled his eyes. Sirius wasn't moving. I walked up to him and whispered in his ear. He popped up and that wasn't the only thing that had popped up. I fumbled backwards and tripped over something on the floor.

"Sorry." I muttered, quickly exiting the room. I went down to breakfast, I was hungry but I was too excited to eat. Professor Dumbledore was already at the head table eating some porridge.

"Good morning Professor Dumbledore." I said politely. He looked up and smiled.

"Good morning. Are you ready for today's match?" He asked me. I nodded. I was ready.

Drew came walking in with Derek. I wanted to go there but I was feeling a tad bit shy and crimson when I thought of Derek last night. But I went over there anyway.

"Are you guys ready to tell me that I'm the best and that Gryffindor rules the school?" I asked both of them, neither one in particular. Derek choked on his orange juice and Drew silently chuckled.

"No 'cause you're going to be the one who says we are the best." Drew said in a taunting tone. I rolled my eyes and went back to my table. The captain was there at this time and he was glaring at me.

"No fraternizing with the other team." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Corey, you know you're the only one I fraternize with." I said batting my eyes. He laughed and walked away shaking his head.

Half way through the game we were down by 2 goals. It was getting harder and harder to get the Quaffle into the goals. I had managed 4 points already. I was thinking of another way to get it passed him. I got the Quaffle and I passed it to James who passed it to Simon who had passed it to me. I was getting closer and closer to the goal when a bludger came right at me and knocked me off my broom. I felt myself falling more than 40 feet and I couldn't find my broom in sight. I looked up and saw everyone's attention looked toward the seeker except for Drew who was flying toward me. Too late. I thought as I hit the floor. Pain reverberated thorough my entire body.

**Drew's POV**

I saw her falling toward the ground and I briefly thought that maybe it was a trick but when I realized no one on her team was helping her I knew that she was in trouble. I had to save her, she was the only thing I had left in the world. I zoomed past everyone, I didn't care whether anyone scored while I was away as long as I helped Ash. I realized I was too late when I saw her delicate body hit the ground and bounce, her back arched from the hit and her eyes closed.

"Ashleigh! No, please, this cant be happening! Ash wake up!" I said shaking her a little. She still wasn't moving. The nurse of the school was rushing to my side. She put a hand on me and examined Ashleigh. The Headmaster came to the side and I heard the game stopping. Her team and mine gathered around us. The nurse conjured up a stretcher and carefully placed Ashleigh on it. I was crying and I didn't care who saw. I wiped my eyes and I followed the nurse.

"I'm sorry but you are going to have to stay here." The nurse told me. I got this intense look in my eyes. I could have killed her.

"NO! She is my sister. I'm going with." I told her. She was about to protest when Dumbledore spoke.

"He's entitled to be with her." He said simply. I knew that he was the same guy that helped us that night when our parents…. I still couldn't admit it. I just can't admit that hey were…. It would make this whole thing seem real. But right now I had to concentrate on Ashleigh.

"Is she ok?" I asked the nurse when we arrived at the hospital wing.

"I'm going to keep her asleep for a while. Her bones need to heal and it might be very painful if I let them heal while she was awake." She said.

"How long will she be sleeping?" I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders. I wasn't going to leave her side. She was my twin sister, she needed me. And as much as I hated to admit it, I needed her too. I sighed and sat down in a chair next to her bed.

Hours went by and she still didn't even stir in her bed. Lily came to see her and sat with her for a while until the nurse kicked her out around dinnertime. My stomach wasn't even asking for food. And if it had I wouldn't have left Ash.

"How is she doing?" Lily asked coming back. I glanced around the place for the nurse.

"I don't know." I said. I was sure that my eyes had bags under them from all the worrying and I probably looked exhausted. It had been over 8 hours and Ash still didn't move.

"I'm sure she is going to be fine. She's a fighter." Lily said. I smiled. Ashleigh was blessed to have such a great friend in Lily. And Lily was very beautiful too. She had shoulder length wavy red hair and bright green eyes that were very striking. We talked about a lot of stuff and we stayed up well past 3 am before the nurse decided to kick Lily out and make a bed for me. I didn't want to fall asleep but the exhaustion over took me.

When I woke up in the morning Ashleigh was still in the same spot. She looked very vulnerable, her eyes had developed into two large black eyes. Her hair was limp and greasy and her whole body seemed as if it was going to break in half. All I wanted to do was take her pain away. I could take it and spare her. I grabbed her hand.

"Please Ash, you need to come back. I can't survive without you." I said. She stirred a little. And then her eyes snapped open.

"Did we win?" She asked half smiling. All I could do was laugh and hug her a million times over and over. I was so happy that she was alive and awake that I didn't care that we had lost.

"Yes you did." I said with tears in my eyes.

"Don't cry." She said giving me a hug.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up and I didn't know where I was. Then I recognized Drew and I didn't care as long as I had my older brother here. I found out that we had won the game but I still didn't really know what happened.

"Was dad there? Who scored the winning goal? Me or John?" I asked him. He gave me a funny look and he seemed confused. All I did was ask a simple question.

"Ash, what's the last thing you remember?" He asked me.

"Playing against Holt. I'm glad we won." I said. He looked down at his feet and didn't look back up at me until a lady in bright red clothes came by.

"Oh good your up." She said. I didn't know who she was at all.

"Who are you?" I asked her. She frowned.

"I'm the school nurse." She said.

"What happened to Darcy? Is she sick?" I asked her.

"Darcy?" She asked confused.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Drew said to her and took her to the side and they started whispering.

"Oh dear. I'll get the headmaster right away." I heard her say before scuffling out of sight. Headmaster?

"Drew, what's going on? Where are mom and dad?" I asked him. Dad was supposed to be at the end of the game and mom was there all the time like clockwork. In the same spot as always.

"Ash, we need to talk." He said. Pain was in his eyes, I could feel it.

"What? Is something wrong? Where are they? MOM! DAD!" I yelled looking wildly around trying to find them.

"No, Ash. They are…. They cant…. They aren't… they have…" But he couldn't get anything out.

"They have a meeting?" I asked but I knew by his expression that it was more than that.

"Ash, mom and dad passed away a couple of months ago." He finally said with huge tears threatening to spill out. I shook my head. We played jokes on each other but this was just down right wrong. How dare he lie about something like this…

Memories of that night came flooding back into my head, my mom, my dad's voice, Headmaster Dumbledore's hand and that slightly weird tattoo on one of the arms of they people that came. Memories of Hogwarts came flooding in along with the Quidditch teams and the game. Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Derek came into my mind. I was crying over the loss of our parents. Drew just got on the bed beside me and we both just cried. We cried for a long time, someone had walked in but we didn't care. After a while it was just every so often tears would spill out until we had no more. I hadn't seen Drew cry except for the time when he broke both his arms. Headmaster Dumbledore was at the foot of the bed looking at us.

"Are you ok?" He asked Drew and me. We both nodded yes, we were much better now.

"The nurse says you can go back to your dorm in a few hours if you like." He said. I nodded.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"You fell off your broom." He said simply.

"You were hit with a bludger." Drew said.

"Who hit me?" I asked him. He shrugged and so did Dumbledore.

"We don't know. But I am sure we will find out soon." Dumbledore said. He left after that and we just sat there in silence.

"The guys on your team didn't do it. They were all the way at the other end of the field." I said sitting up, it stung a little but I didn't care.

"They were weren't they? Kenny had fallen of his broom and Nick was helping him get back on." Drew said sitting up too.

"That means it was someone on my team." I gasped. I didn't want to think of it but I did. Either Amber or Sirius had hit me with a bludger. But why? I had a winning shot. Drew wasn't going to get this shot, I could have made it. Amber was bad enough, she could barely hit the ball but Sirius was good, really good. It had to have been him. But why? I asked myself as I got off the bed. I wanted to go and find out.

"I'm going back to the dorm, I want to wash my hair." I said and in that second it stopped looking greasy. Drew gave me a 'yeah right!' look.

"Ok, so I want to find out who did this and why." I said.

"And when you find out, you tell me. Because I WILL kill them." Drew said. I nodded. Of course I would tell him, after I deal with them myself.

I entered the dorm and Lily was sitting on her bed writing in her journal. She stopped when she saw me and ran to hug me. I stopped her.

"Careful, i'm still sore." I said. She nodded and put her arms down.

"What happened? Why did you fall off your broom?" She asked me.

"Didn't you see?" I asked her.

"Well while you falling off, I'm sure all eyes were on the seeker, he caught it when you started to fall. I didn't see anything." Great, no witnesses.

"Someone hit me with a bludger." I stated.

"Oh, my god, those dirty rotten Ravenclaws." She said.

"No, those dirty rotten Gryffindors. Someone on my team hit me." I said. Her eyes got big, and I explained to her that Nick and Kenny were on the other end of the field away from the ball.

"You think it was Sirius or Amber?" She asked me. I nodded and left the room to look at myself in the mirror. I had two black eyes and my face looked pale. I wrinkled my nose and they disappeared, I was back to normal.

"I'm going into the common room." I said.

"OK, I'll be down in a second." She said writing something more and placing a spell on it as I left. In the common room, not many people were there. A few girls a few guys and the maurders. They saw me and James and Remus rushed to my side, I was glaring daggers at Sirius.

"Are you ok? What happened? All I saw was a bludger coming for you and then you fell and I couldn't get to you." James said. I sat down and I told him my suspicions and he shook his head.

"That cant be, Sirius wouldn't do that." James kept shaking his head. Remus was agreeing with James.

"I'm serious guys, He had to have. I mean he was the only one. Nick and Kenny were at the other end of the field. The bludger was following us." I said. They kept shaking their heads, they didn't want to believe me but they knew that it was true.

"What about Amber? She was there too." James said.

"Amber? She can barely hit a still ball, what makes you think she can hit a flying bludger?" I asked him. He sighed.

"I can't believe it." He said.

"I know."

"No, I mean I refuse to believe it." He said and he got up and went to Sirius.

"They didn't belive you?" Lily asked coming up behind me.

"No, they didn't." I sighed.

"Go talk to him." She said. That was a good idea. I went to get him when Amber came down the steps.

"Sirius, can I talk to you?" I asked him. He glanced at Amber and then back at me.

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked me leaning back pretending to be cool.

"That cheap shot you pulled on the field." I said. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"I know that it was you who hit me with the bludger." I stated. James looked at me like I was crazy. Sirius jumped up, he was furious.

"I didn't hit you with anything. How many times during the game did I save your little arse and you accuse me of hitting you?" He shouted.

"No one else could have done it! Kenny and Nick were no where near the ball and Amber cant do anything on the field. She is worthless!" I yelled. Hoping Amber would take the bait. She was so mad she was turning red.

"I can to! I am not worthless! I can hit a bludger just like Sirius can, that's why I hit you!" She said. All the people in the common room were gasping and looking at her.

"I knew it was you. Just like James said, Sirius couldn't do that." I said. I got real close to her.

"If I were you I would watch out." I whispered just barely enough so she could hear. I walked right by her and went back to my dorm. I was tired. I fell on the bed and was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up on Monday morning feeling more like myself. I got up and went into the bathroom, when I looked into the mirror and my hair was chopped at all different angles and was died bright pink. Someone had cut my hair in the middle of the night. I looked at all the sleeping faces, Amber. It had to have been her. I wrinkled my nose and my hair turned back to normal. I am just going to act like nothing had happened.

"Good morning." She said, I could hear the victory in her voice. She hadn't seen me yet, she just heard me in the bathroom. I stepped out and smiled at her. Her face fell, she was expecting me to look and feel horrible.

"Good morning." I said. I grabbed my towel and took a shower. This was going to be a fight and I was determined to win. I got out and Amber was gone. I dressed in my school robes, put on some make up, jewelry. I got to breakfast and Amber was all over Sirius and he was sititng there taking it. I was mad at him for just being there.

"Ash?" Derek came up behind me. He sat down and was playing with the end of the table.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked him. He glanced up and then back down.

"Ash, um…. I don't think it would be a good idea to go out this weekend. Um, with Quidditch and…" He stopped.

"I think that its best if we don't too." I said. No guy had ever really said no to me or broken a date off with me. I didn't really know what to say. He nodded and got up and left. He was making eye contact with me or anyone. Drew looked back and forth between me and Derek. He came to me first,

"Are you doing better?" He asked me sitting down. I nodded. We both grabbed a piece of toast and a slice of bacon and left the Great Hall.

"What's up with Derek?" I asked him. He shrugged. We were outside by the lake by now.

"I found out who did it." I stated.

"Sirius right?" He said hopeful. He could beat up a guy but he could never touch a girl with malice.

"No, he didn't, Amber did." I said. He nodded. He obviously knew that it might have been Amber. we sat there at the edge of the lake for a while, neither one of us talking. It was about time the mail should show up so we went back. In the Great Hall the owls swooped down and a letter was delivered to me. I opened it and inside were pictures of my parents dead bodies. I dropped them as if they were poisonous. Drew picked them up and looked at them, on the back of one it said. 'Watch out, like mother like daughter,'

"Lets go." He said leading me out of the Great Hall. People who were close to us were murmuring and trying to find out what was wrong. Drew led me toward a room that had a fireplace in it. He looked around for Floo powder but couldn't find any.

"Looking for this?" Dumbledore came out from the shadows.

"We're leaving." Drew stated reaching for the floo powder. Dumbledore handed to him.

"Why?" He asked us.

"Because of these." Drew said thrusting the pictures at Dumbledore. He calmly looked at them and then at the back of the pictures.

"Obviously we have a problem. Please sit." He said pointing to the table.

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked him.

"Well, nothing is going to happen to you. I garentee it. Someone has threatened you and we will find out who. Do you have any enemies?" He asked me.

"Amber. But I think thats all." I said.

"Why doesn't she like you?" He asked.

"I don't know, I never did anything to her. She is the one who hit me with the bludger." I said kind of half whining.

"I will talk to her and I will find out who did this. This is considered a threat and that is grounds for expulsion." He said.

"ok." I said.

"I'm switching houses." Drew told him. He didn't ask, he told.

"I'm but you cant." Dumbledore said.

"What do you mean? I have to protect her. No one else can." He said.

"I can take care of myself. You know I keep noticing that you keep coming to my aid but I don't need it half the time. I'm getting tired of this, I love you bunchies but I can take care of myself. I'm not vulnerable." I said.

"I cant lose you. I cant go through that again. Losing mom and dad took a lot out of me. We're twins, I know what you think and feel. Losing you would be like losing a part of me. If I lose anymore I'll be non existant.." He said.

"Amber cant hurt me. Besides I promise that I will stay around someone at all times. We can spend almost every minute together outside of the dorm room and class, if that makes you feel better." I said

"I might get sick of you but ok. That will have to do." He said. Dumbledore told us not to worry and play out today like nothing happened. I walked to my first class, and Amber wasn't there. I was glad, it had to have been her. It just had to. Although the more I think about it the more I realized that nobody knew of my parent or how they died. When I sat down there were some scattered whispers and two girls sitting near me got up and moved across the class but I didn't pay much attention to it. Lily came in and she sat right next to me. She looked kind of scared.

"Lily, whats wrong?" I asked her. She shook her head no because the professor was starting class. She broke us off into groups of five and I was in the same group as Lily, James, Sirius and Remus.

"Why are all of you so quiet?" I asked them. They didn't say anything.

"Ash, there is a rumor going around…. People are…" but Lily couldn't get it out.

"People are saying that your parents were death eaters and that the ministry had to kill them." Lily said handing me some photos. They were the same photos that I had gotten in the mail, on the back it said 'Death Eaters. Like mother like daughter.'

"ITS NOT TRUE!" I almost yelled. They all kind of winced.

"We're not saying it is. We are just telling you what we heard." Lily said giving all of them threatening looks. I sat down and put my face in my hands.

"What did happen?" Sirius asked. I looked up at him, tears threatening to fall.

"Our lives used to be one big routine. Everyday we went to school, came home, did our homework and at the same time every night we all sat down to dinner and chatted like a normal family. One night my dad didn't show and my mom said he had to work late. That in itself was unusual but tonight was just all around weird. Half way through dinner the front door slammed open and three large men walked in wearing black with masks on. We all ran upstairs, my mom pushed me and Drew through the fire and sent us somewhere else. When we finally located some powder to get back they were all ready dead." I said. I couldn't do my work, I couldn't concentrate.

"Did you ever find out who those men were?" Lily asked after some really awkward silence.

"no, the only thing I could distinguish them with was a odd looking tattoo." I said.

"What kind of tattoo?" James asked.

"I dunno, it kind of looked like a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth." I said.

"That's the Dark Mark." Lily whispered.

"What's the Dark Mark?" I asked her.

"Its been all over the news. There is this new guy who is looking for power and he is assembling an army of thousands. Its so he can kill all the muggles and muggleborns." Lily said shuttering.

"You're muggleborn." James said. He suddenly looked like he had an urge to shield her from all harm. She nodded and looked away. She saw his reaction and she was blushing. Maybe she did like him after all.

"Those are the death eaters right. The new guys followers." I stated. They all nodded.

"Who would do something like this? Who spread this around when its not true?" I asked.

"I know who did it." Sirius said. Barely anyone could hear him.

"Who?" James asked.

"Amber. She has it out for you. And I know for a fact that her parents are death eaters." Sirius said.

"You know that her parents are death eaters and you still go out with her?" James practically yelled.

"Take your fight outside. All of you, your done wait out side the door for the remaining period." The teacher said. We left the class whispering and made it outside.

"I did it because she figured out the thing." Sirius said through gritted teeth.

"What thing?" I asked. All three boys looked at me.

"Nothing, nevermind." Remus said glaring at Sirius.

"What, tell me. I'll find out sooner or later." I said. They didn't say anything. Lily shrugged when I looked at her for an answer.

"Don't get your knickers in a knot. I'll tell you." James said. Remus and Sirius stared at him with an open mouth.

"You cant, you promised!" Remus said.

"She'll find out anyway. We did a prank, and Amber found out about it. She has been trying to use it against us ever since." James said.

"Which prank?" Lily asked. When they all opened their mouth to answer and when they did, they were all different answers. Lily and I smirked.

"Liars." I said.


	8. Chapter 8

Lily and I were sitting with Drew at lunch. They were talking about the O.W.L.s and I was sitting there thinking about what the boys could be hiding.

"Don't you agree?" Drew asked.

"Huh?" I asked coming back to reality.

"Ash, don't worry about anything. Like Dumbledore said, nothing is going to happen." He said.

"I don't care about that. Anyone can try to hurt me all they want, it won't happen. What I do care about though is what those guys are hiding." I said motioning toward James, Sirius and Remus.

"Well, maybe it is about Remus' once a month trip." Lily said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Once a month he always leaves to visit a family member who is sick. I think his grandma has died about 5 times now. Either that or he has 5 different grandmas." Lily said.

"So what is his deal? Is he like a werewolf or something?" I said laughing a little but Drew and Lily stopped laughing.

"He could be. After all I have noticed that his last few visits were always on a full moon." Lily said looking at Remus.

"No way! It can't be. He's like a little lamb, he cant be one of those." I said.

"Just because he isn't vicious doesn't mean it doesn't come out once a month." Drew pointed out.

"Should we confront them? Tell them we know." I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe just Sirius or James. I don't want Remus to know that we know." She said.

"Ok, I'll tell them at practice." I said. We had practice for the school team tonight. Thank God Amber wasn't on this team. That night I went to the Quidditch field to practice. Our first game against another school was next week. The coach was working with the beaters leaving James and me alone. Derek never seemed to come near me lately.

"James?" I asked getting his attention. He sighed, he knew what was coming.

"We know." I said simply. He looked at me.

"Know what?" He asked.

"We know about the secret you guys are hiding. I'd told you we would find out. Its about Remus." I said. His eyes got wide he pulled me to the side with force.

"Ow." I said.

"Who did you tell?" He asked.

"No one, just me, Lily and Drew know." I said.

"Wha…" His head fell.

"You can't tell Remus you know." He said.

"We wont, I promise. But, um, you still have the problem with Amber." I said. We couldn't discuss it more because the coach called us over. Practice was hard and it really paid off. On the way to the common room James had told Sirius and Sirius came rushing to me.

"Who told you?" He asked me.

"No one, we figured it out." I said. He pulled me to the side and James passed us. I was getting a little alarmed.

"I knew you would." He whispered in my ear. He said it in a sexual way, which made my whole body quiver. He reached down and was about to brush my his lips against mine when Amber came toward us.

"What are you doing?" She asked in an outrage. She gave me an evil look that could have killed me if it was more than just a look.

"I was giving her some advice." He said.

"That close." She said, acting as if she wasn't born yesterday.

"Why would I want him to touch me? It's obvious that you are always all up on him. I ain't gonna touch that." I said giving him a disgusted look. He knew I was playing along to keep Remus' secret a secret.

"He was giving me advice to stay away from you, that you're some bad ass. But if you're so afraid that your man is cheating behind your back and that you cant keep those hideous claws in him, then maybe you're not so bad ass." I said. She was looking as if she would blow up.

"I'm not afraid of losing him. He loves me and no matter what, he'll always want me." She said, Sirius obediently put his arms around her from behind. Oh, how I wanted that to be me.

"Whatever." I said and started to walk off.

"Hey Ash, what happened to your date this weekend?" She asked a slight smile was forming on her lips. She go to Derek, she had to have. What did she threaten him with?

"Nothing, I have a date this weekend." I didn't know why I had said it but I did. We would be playing against Holt this weekend and they were staying for the entire weekend. Which meant that John would be here. we would go out. Just me an him like old times. That way I didn't seem like a liar.

Lily was in the common room with Remus and Peter and James was sitting next to her and she was allowing it. She was even talking to him like a human being. I was tired and still very wound up by the way Sirius had talked to me. I needed to go to bed.

Friday night came around the team of Holt school had arrived. I was so excited. John came through the fire first and then Sally. They were both beaters. Cory, Kiki, and Jay came next they were the teams chasers. Then Micah came through next; she was the reserve Keeper last year. The seeker came next and he was the best seeker I had ever met, Jose. Then two of the school coaches came last along with the 4 alternates. Dumbledore welcomed them to the school and told them that dinner was in 20 minutes then he took the coaches to the side to talk to them.

"John!" I squealed running toward him. He caught me and twirled me around. I had always loved the feel of his arms around me.

"Hey Ash, I knew you couldn't resist me." He said winking.

"Yeah." I snorted laughing. Most of the school was there and they saw what was going on. I was hoping that Amber was watching. I gave all of them a hug and Drew did the same. We were happy that we got to see them again.

"Drew, Ashleigh, we miss you so much." Coach Ibarra said giving both of us a hug.

"We miss you guys too, Coach." Drew said shaking his hand and giving him a half arm hug. They got to sit at any table and I told them to go to the Gryffindor table.

"Remember the time when your broom went crazy and you nearly knocked everyone else off their brooms." John said laughing. He had his arm around my waist. I had owled him last week telling him that we had to have massive PDA when adults weren't around. He didn't even question it. Amber was watching us out of the corner of her eye; her and the Sirius were sitting right across from James and Lily who were sitting next to me. Remus was sitting next to Sirius and Peter next to James.

"Stop making fun of me!" I said playfully hitting John. He leaned down and whispered in my ear making me blush.

"So how are you guys adjusting to life over here?" Micah asked. She was always one of my favorite friends and Drew's first love. They loved each other but they broke it off because they felt that they were too dependent on each other. They had everything in common, and Drew had trained her late at night in the are of being a keeper.

"As best as we can. Nothing like California." Drew said chuckling.

"Yeah I wish I had brought warmer clothes. I'm freezing half the time." I said.

"I can warm you up baby." He said and Derek, who was sitting next to Amber and across from me, gave him a 'watch it' look. Drew knew about my plan, I had to tell him so he wouldn't get all 'HEY that's my sister you're talking to!' John toned it down a bit but I didn't. I picked up a strawberry and took a small bite. Rule # 1 in seducing, always bring the attention to your mouth. Micah noticed and started laughing which made me laugh.

"Number one!" We both said laughing. I loved Micah like a sister; we had been best friends since elementary school. Her dad worked with my dad, or he did. Things got quiet for a little bit.

"So all of you guys are friends?" Amber asked.

"Yeah. And sometimes more." Micah said giving Drew's hand a squeeze.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, I used to go out with Ashleigh for the longest time. And Micah and Drew were together for a while and then Ashleigh had gone out with Jay. And Drew liked Sally for a bit but ended up going out with Kiki, while Ashleigh went out with Jose and Cory. Within a month and then she came back to me but I was already taking Sally out. Jay and Kiki were together for about two months and then they broke up. Micah and I went out for a date but that didn't work out at all." John said.

"You make me sound bad. I was on the rebound from this guy. You broke my heart." I said teasingly to John.

"I broke your heart? Babe, we both decided that after…" He started but he stopped because I interrupted him. Drew didn't know about that part of our relationship and I didn't want him to know.

"I know I know," I said giving him a small peck on the cheek.

"So how is the school running? Who's the new miss priss?" I asked Micah.

"Haha, I am, you dork. I am not in reserves anymore." She said. We goofed around the rest of the night. I really missed them all. Micah got to stay in our dorm and John stayed in Drew's. The rest of them slept in the common rooms in pairs.

"Ok, since this is like being at a sleepover, I say we play truth or dare." Micah said.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"Well, one person goes first like I'll ask Ash, Truth or Dare? And if she chooses truth then I ask her a question and she has to answer truthfully. If she chooses dare then I have to dare her to do something. Like, go kiss some guy, something like that." Micah said. I didn't know if it was such a good idea playing with Amber but Amber quickly jumped into the game. Lily was a little reluctant but she gave in. the other girls in the dorm just went to sleep.

"Ok, I'll go first." Amber said. I looked at Lily and she looked back at me.

"True or Dare…. Ashleigh." She said. I was afraid she was going to dare me to do something stupid, illegal or something that. But I also didn't want to seem like a chicken either.

"Dare." I said challengingly. She smiled evilly.

"Ok, I dare you to make out with Sirius in front of his friends." She said.

"I told you, he repulses me." I said.

"I DON'T CARE, It's a dare!" Amber said.

"He is kind of cute." Micah shrugged.

"You don't know him though. What he's like." I said through gritted teeth.

"Fine, you want me to kiss your boyfriend, then I will." I said leaving the room. I knew the way to their dorm already. I softly knocked on the door and Remus answered.

"Is Sirius here?" I asked him. He looked around and let me in. Sirius was coming out of the bathroom wearing no shirt and some loose pants that made him look gorgeous.

"Ash." He said confused. I just walked right up to him and put my arms around his neck. I bent his head down and I kissed him. Slow at first and then he got over his initial shock and put his hands around my waist. It felt good to have his arms there; my whole body was tingling, begging for more than a kiss. Our kiss deepened and I was sure that the other three boys were watching. He lifted me in the air and I instinctively wrapped my legs around him. This was more than making out but I didn't care. After another minute we pulled apart and he had both hands on my waist. It just felt good standing there.

"What was that for?" He whispered in my ear.

"It was a dare." I said winking at him. I left him standing there with his mouth open. I arrived back to the dorm room and I had to wipe the smile off my face. I walked in and went straight to the sink to wash my mouth out.

"So you did it?" Lily said. I nodded and gave a grossed out look.

"How did he react?" She asked.

"I didn't give him time to react." I said

"My turn. Truth or dare, Amber?" I said.

"Truth." She said.

"What did you say to Derek to change his mind about this weekend?" I asked her.

"I told him that I would make him a social out cast if he went out with you." She told me without any regret or any emotion.

"You're a cruel, cruel person." I said. I was sounding bitter but I had a right to.

"Ok, my turn!" Micah said.

"Truth or dare, Lily?" She said.

"Truth." She said. I whispered something in her ear and she smiled.

"Ok… Lily do you like James Potter? And do you think you guys will ever get married?" Micah asked her. Lily gave me a bad look and I just smiled innocently at her.

"Yes I sort of like him but he isn't husband material." She said.

"My turn." Lily said. She singled out Micah.

"Why did you break up with Drew?" She asked.

"You didn't ask me truth or dare but I'll use truth then. I was scared… I was afraid to love and then everything happened and Ashleigh and Drew left so fast. I do wish we were still together. I love him and I always will." Micah said sighing.

"My turn again." Amber said.

"Truth or Dare Lily." She asked.

"Truth." Lily said.

"You can only use truth once. You have to choose dare." Amber said. Micah and I nodded; I knew that Amber was cornering her.

"Actually, I think we all need to get our rest for tomorrows game." I said ending the game. I didn't want Lily to do anything she didn't want to do.

"Why? You don't think Lily is afraid to do something do you?" She asked me.

"No, she isn't but I think we should get some rest." I said. Amber wouldn't back down and neither would I.

"Fine, be like that. I wanted to go and see Sirius anyway." She said.

"Tell him I said hi." I said laughing. She glared at me and slammed the door.

"Why did you break up the game?" Micah asked.

"Because I need rest and so do you. Come on, let's go to bed." I said and Lily shot me a grateful look and mouthed the word, 'thank you'. 'Your welcome.' I mouthed back.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Sirius, James, Drew, me and the rest of the team gathered in the changing room. We were all excited to be there and my stomach was in a thousand knots.

"Ok, gang, I just want you to go out there and do your best, you are the best and you can beat that school so fast. This is a competition, not a friendly game. So Win!" Our coach was a little too competitive, we had to be the best and we had to win. There were no other options.

We stepped on the field and the stands roared with applause. The other team was already practicing. We were ready, we were pumped, we were going to kick some butt. Drew and I nodded at each other. We had come up with new plans because our old team knew all our old tricks. The game started and the other team had the ball, I needed to steal it from Kiki, she was good too. She kept well away from me and that enabled James to move in for the steal. He got the ball and sped off in the next direction. Micah was getting ready, she needed to catch the ball. James threw it back to me and I pushed it into Derek's hands. He took off with it and threw it in the goal, Micah missed it by an inch and the crowd went wild.

"Yeah!" Said, giving Derek a high five. The other team got the ball again they headed toward Drew. He was getting ready, they shot up close and he hit it away with the end of his broom. Not in, I dived and caught the ball racing toward Micah, I needed to get it pass her. My right side was my strongest and I usually faked left and went right but I had to chance it by doing the opposite. I faked right and she dived while I went left, almost falling off my broom but James came to my rescue and threw the ball in while I caught balance. We smiled and hug each other when the ball went in. I looked around and the seeker was just sitting there. We had to score a lot of points because Jose was one of the best.

Throughout the game we were scoring left and right. Micah had caught a total of two balls while Derek caught many and we were already up around 120 points. My hands were numb from the bitter winter and I was shivering. That was one of my weaknesses, I got cold way to easily. I snapped out of it when the snitch flew past my ear. I looked slightly to the left and Sammy, our seeker locked eyes with me. I moved my eyes to the left and he looked over there. He saw it and zoomed after it. He got at least a three second head start on Jose who was right behind him. Both of their hands were reaching out and they were elbowing each other out of the way. Sammy closed his fingers and pulled up. He had caught the snitch. The whole team had stopped playing and we were cheering, landing a in circle jumping up and down screaming with happiness. I felt a familiar hand on the small of my back and I knew who it was. Sirius. Drew pulled me toward him and gave me a hug looking over at Sirius.

"We did! We won!" I said jumping up and down. Drew gave a small smile always keeping his eyes on Sirius. Sirius was cheering and dancing with James by now. They were shaking their butts and doing some routine dance that they must have practiced. I just laughed along with the rest of the team and the Holt team came to congratulate us.

"Congrats." John said coming from behind. He wrapped his arms around me and bent down close to my ear.

"How about a victory date?" He asked me. I smiled and nodded. Drew shook hands with him, causing him to take his hands off of me. Drew was way too protective. There was never really room to get a boyfriend.

That afternoon we got to leave campus and go exploring around Hogsmeade. I hadn't been to Hogsmeade yet and I was pretty excited. Lily and I had a plan, John was going to distract Amber while I got Sirius alone for a little while. John was also a born metamorphmagus and I convinced him to turn into Sirius while I whisked him away. We took our chance in the busiest shop in Hogsmeade, the candy shop. John turned when Sirius was separated from Amber. I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the shop. He was wearing an invisibility cloak and he followed me down the road toward the Shrieking Shack. As soon as I was out of sight I got under the cloak with him.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi." He whispered arching his eyebrows. He put his arms around my waist and I smiled. I liked him, ever since I knew about Amber black mailing him, I liked him.

"Is there anywhere around here that we could and be a little more…. Private?" I asked him. He had that sexy grin that I loved.

"Actually I know an uncle who lives nearby. We can go there." He said, I nodded and we left down the trail toward an older looking house. It seemed like no one was home.

"Is your uncle home?" I asked him.

"No, he travels a lot." Sirius said opening the door and leading me in. He led me upstairs to a room that had Quidditch posters all over and a four poster bed. I sat down and patted the bed next to me. He came closer but stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't want you to feel like I am using you." He said.

"I thought we would just make out." I said..

"Oh." He said looking like he thought he was an idiot. He nodded and came closer. I leaned back and he was on top of me. Every cell in my body felt like it was being shocked. His lips brushed mine and my body quivered. His hand moved up my shirt but stayed on my bare stomach. He kissed me a little more and then it kept deepening. I moaned when he lightly laid his hand on my breast. He liked my reaction and he kissed me deeper. I pulled off his shirt and he smiled.

Then I heard a slam of the door downstairs. Sirius pulled his shirt back on and I changed into Remus. We sat on the bed and pretended to laugh and talk like we were old friends. Amber came up the steps.

"Where did you go?" She asked looking at both of us. She looked angry.

"Remus saw me in the shop and asked me if he could borrow something. I thought I left it here. So we came here." He said looking at me. I nodded in agreement. She eyed me and then looked away.

"Well, I want you to take me out to get a butterbeer. Lets go." She commanded. Sirius looked down and got up obediently. I felt so bad for him. I walked with them until we split up and I ran to a bathroom to change back. John was in the same bathroom.

"She almost killed me." He said.

"You're a bad actor. How could you get caught?" I asked him. He shrugged and we walked out together.

"So what did you do when she found out?" I asked him. He smiled.

"I turned into that one guy who was staring at you the other day." He said turning and he looked exactly like Malfoy. I snorted while laughing and I ended up doubled over. He turned back to John and we went into the place to get some prank stuff.

"Man, there is some awesome stuff here. I love it." He said looking at some jalapeno gum.

"You have to give that one to Marcus, for me." I said laughing. Marcus was one of our old pals, he was always playing tricks on all of us. I got him back a few times and it was good too.

"Definitely. And you have to keep in touch, tell me about that whole Amber and Sirius Situation." I laughed.

"Of course I will." I said. When we left we joined everyone in the local bar/hangout. Both teams were there with Amber, Lily and a few others who hung out with team members. They only seats that were available were between Amber and Lily. John sat down I sat on his lap. We all joked and played around. I didn't pay any attention to Amber. She was the only one that really didn't belong.

"I miss you Ash." John said after a while. I nodded. I missed him too.

"I miss you too." I said, I didn't want to cry.

"I never stopped loving you." He said. I looked at him.

"You didn't? then why did you…" I started but I had to stop. Drew could be near by.

"Because you got really distant. I thought maybe I had ruined you. I didn't want to see you like that anymore. And then you just started dating a bunch of different guys and you seemed yourself again." He said.

"You should have told me the truth." I whispered.

"Why? By the way why were you so distant?" He asked me.

"Because I was afraid of falling for you and becoming dependent on you. You know me. Miss Independent." I said.

"Except for when it came to Drew. You were never afraid to be dependant on him." John said quietly.

"He's my brother and he has always been there for me. I can trust him." I said.

"So you couldn't trust me." He said nodding like he figured it all out. He sounded hurt but I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't mean to hurt him.

"You know how hard…" I started.

"Yeah, I know, I've always known." He said getting up. I nearly fell to the ground but I caught myself.

"You ok?" Sirius asked. I nodded, he didn't need to know about my problems. Drew came over to me.

"What was that about?" He asked me.

"A over due fight. You know me and him." I said grabbing a butter beer and leaving the table. I needed to find him to apologize. He was sitting outside watching the witches and wizards walk by.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to trust you because if I did then that would have meant something. It would have meant that I was truly in love and I wasn't ready for that." I said looking at my shoes the whole time.

"I know, I don't think I was ready either. I might have ran after a few months and then really broken your heart." He said lifting my chin up with his index finger. He looked me in the eye.

"Friends?" He asked. I nodded.

"So you really like that guy huh?" He asked me.

"No, he's just fun." I said.

"I see more." He said in one of his mysterious ways. John's mom had been a seer and our principal back home had belived that John was one too but he never really showed any signs of having the ability. But we had always trusted his instinct in the games at all times.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Just be a little more trusting in the matters of the heart." He said. I gave him a weirded out look but he brushed it away.

"So, any chance that you might be coming to visit again" I asked.

"If we make it to finals." He said. I nodded. They would.

"I'll see you then."


	10. Chapter 10

They went back and school went back to normal. Dumbledore was searching for the person who had threatened me but he wasn't that successful. Whoever it was, was good at covering their tracks. Every now and then Sirius and I would lock eyes from across a room but I would quickly look away. I didn't want any more trouble with Amber. I was getting sick and tired of her lately. She always kept close to me, never letting me out of her sight. Drew had shown me where the Ravenclaw common room and dorms were in case I needed him. He had also given me a mirror. All I had to do was whisper his name in it and then he would appear, if he was around it. Evidently he had traded his autographed Eric Devlin poster for them. He loved Eric Devlin, I would just have to get it back.

"Hey." I heard a whisper behind me. I was in the common room getting ready for Muggle Studies. It was Sirius, he was being seductive.

"Hi." I said stuffing my book inside my bag. I didn't want to like him, at all.

"Ditch muggle studies with me." He said. I looked at him like he was crazy.

"I cant ditch Muggle Studies." I said.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Well, because for one, my brother is in the class and he will notice that both you and I aren't in class. He'll kill you, he already hates you." I said.

"I always was more of a ladies man." He said shrugging. I rolled my eyes and I saw Amber approach.

"Hi guys." She said. He straightened up immediately.

"Hey." I said.

"What were you guys talking about?" She asked.

"He was asking to see our homework in muggle studies." I said.

"Oh, is that all?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I haven't had much time to do all my homework and I blew off that classes homework." He said looking for James. He obviously didn't like her at all.

"Well, you can ditch with me." She said putting her arms around him and looking up.

"Actually, I cant. Dumbledore has been keeping a keen eye on me. Too many truancies." Sirius said and James saved him by dragging him away.

"Do you really like him?" I asked her. She looked at me as if I had just spoken another language.

"Of course I do." She said.

"A bit of advice, let him breath. Give him space. In Cali, we always make the men chase us. Make em beg like dogs." I said. She looked as if she was thinking about it when she was leaving. If she gave him more space then I could move in, inch by inch. After a morning of muggle studies, Drew and I went to the library to finish an essay that was due in Charms. Drew seemed to be acting weird and he wouldn't make eye contact with me at all.

"Ok Whats up with you?" I asked him. He shrugged as if he didn't know what I was talking about.

"Oh, come on, are you mad that I didn't answer last night?" I asked.

"I knew you were ignoring me." He said.

"I wasn't ignoring you I was tired. It was midnight for Christ's Sake." I said, and besides I was also writing a letter to Sirius, we had been writing notes to each other ever since that night of the dare. But I didn't want him knowing that.

"Well, I wasn't mad about that." Drew said.

"What are you mad about?" I asked him quietly.

"Some thing just doesn't add up." He said.

"Add up to what?" I asked deeply confused.

"Why were they killed? What did any9one have against them? They were nice people." He said.

"Lily was telling me about this new guy in the papers, Lord Voldermort, and he has these followers called 'death eaters'. I think they did it, but I don't know why." I told him all about the tattoo I had seen on one guys arm and how it was called the Dark all about the muggles and muggle born witches.

"But they aren't muggles or muggle born. We're pure bloods." He pointed out.

"I know. Maybe mom and dad defied him somehow." I suggested.

"All the way from America?" Drew asked.

"I don't know." I said giving up.

"We need to find out more about this guy." Drew said.

"We could talk to Dumbledore." I suggested.

"No way, I don't really trust him. I mean, he still hasn't found out who had threatened you." He was right, there was no real evidence that suggested we could trust him.

"The only people we can afford to trust are each other." He said defiantly. We dropped that subject soon after and went back to our work. So much work.

"Man, here they load you up with homework, I've never had so much homework in my life." I said. Drew laughed sympathetically.

"I know but we have to do it all." He said.

"It all just feels so weird. I mean they don't have GPA's or honor roll. Nothing like when we are used to." I said. Drew was suddenly quiet.

"Do you like Sirius?" He asked suddenly.

"I think he's a cool guy. Why?" I asked.

"I don't know. Ash, I don't think its such a good idea to go after him." He said.

"Since when have you ever cared about who I should or shouldn't date?"

"Since Sirius came along. He's a bad influence. He's just like Tray." He said.

"TRAY! You're comparing him to Tray!" I yelled,I was furious. Tray was an old boyfriend who I had liked a lot and he had cheated on me with at least ten girls before I caught him with the Quidditch captain. I had hated her the entire year and when I found them at Tray's house doing more than kissing, I broke it off with Tray and they immediately hooked up. He was the main reason why I had such trouble trusting people. The last I heard she was pregnant, and I got some sick satisfaction out of that.

"How dare you even bring up hois name?" I yelled. The librarian rustled over to us and escorted us out.

"Come back when you can stop yelling." She said. I walked off without Drew, heading toward my dorm.

"Ashleigh, come on. He doesn't remind you of him at all? … Ash, I didn't mean it in such a bad way…. Please, I just don't want you to get hurt." He said finally. I stopped and turned to face him.

"I can take care of myself. I'm not five anymore, you don't have to treat me like I am going to break at the slightest tremble." I said. His face seemed to soften a little.

"I only keep treating you like that because I cant let you break. You're the strongest person I know and if you break, I break." He said. I had always thought that he was the strongest one.

"You're stronger than you think. I turn to you for everything. Without you, I would be a constant mess." I said.

"Ok, I'll stop meddling but that doesn't mean that I am going to like what you are doing." He said.

"And I'll be more careful." I said.

"It's a deal." He said and we pinkie swore. We decided that going back to our dorms was best. So I ventured into the common room, not many people were there. Just James and Remus, and a few third years that I recognized from my muggle studies class.

"Hey." I said sitting next to them. James got closer to me.

"Do you think she likes me? I think so, things are getting easier between us. Thanks to you and Sirius." James said rambling on.

"Me and Sirius?" I asked confused.

"Yeah, since he likes you and you like him and you guys have been hanging out even if evil Amber is there. Lily has hung out with us, making it easier between us. But I don't want to ask her out and then get rejected."

"I don't know what she will say if you ask her out." I said honestly.


	11. Chapter 11

That night Sirius slipped a letter into my pocket when he was going to say goodnight to Amber. I didn't pull it out until they were both gone.

'Ash, I don't think we should see each other anymore. Amber is getting more suspicious and I'm starting to think its not so bad being her boyfriend. I'm sorry, I know you liked me but it was just a fling.' I read the note and I was really confused, the problem was my emotions were swirling in all directions. I didn't know whether to cry, laugh, or get angry. I really was starting to like him, there was so much chemistry between us and it was hard to ignore. Why was he doing this now? If it was such a fling then why did he want me to respect him? He could have just fucked me right there. Just them Lily and James walked back into the common room and she had a huge smile on her face until she saw mine. Lily was reading my face and she knew that something was wrong.

"He says its over. That's ok, it was just I fling." I struggled to get the words out but it was getting harder and harder. I needed to believe them before they sounded true.

"I'm sorry." Lily said. I had to convince myself that everything was all right. I turned to her and smiled.

"Don't be. It was just a fling. Really, it was." I said convincingly. Lily gave me a dubious look but that cleared up when she did believe my words.

We went upstairs to bed and I laid in bed staring at the ceiling. My curtains were drawn and I couldn't sleep. Everyone in the room was sleeping but me. I creeped out of the room and went to the common room. No one was down there. I could let out my emotions freely. I was angry, sadness had passed and anger now took me over. My blood felt like it was boiling and it was rising from my feet to my head. I was started to realize that I was rising. I wasn't standing on the ground anymore. I was rising up into the air and I kept on rising until I freaked out and I landed sideways on my ankle. I screamed out in pain and I heard someone coming out of the dormitories. It was one of the seventh years, he was the Headboy of the house.

"Are you ok? What are you doing up?" He asked me.

"I…I couldn't sleep… I cam down here to sit and think…. And I fell…. My ankle…" I said, with each pause I would cringe in pain. My ankle was really hurting, it felt like my ankle was protruding from my skin. He raced over and knelt down next to me.

"Can you stand? Do you need me to help you?" He asked. I nodded. I tried to stand but I fell against him. He caught me and I faces were close together.

"Sorry." I said breathlessly. He shook his head.

"Don't worry about it." He said helping me. I was hoping along when someone else came down the stairs. It was Sirius.

"What happened?" His eyes were wide as he rushed over to help me too.

"She fell. I think she broke her ankle." The Headboy said.

"Let me help you guys." Sirius said. He grabbed my other arm and we left toward the Hospital wing. Once we entered, the nurse came running toward us.

"You again?" She said helping me to a bed.

"Yeah…. My ankle." I said when she moved it. I had screamed a little when I said ankle. She said a spell and it stopped hurting. It was all better.

"There you go. It may be sore in the morning, come and see me. I'll give you something." She said.

"Thanks." I said getting off the bed and jumping up and down.

"Now get back to bed… All of you." She said giving the Headboy a look. We all started to walk back. I turned to the headboy.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name." I said.

"Oh, forgive me, I'm Alfie." He said shaking my hand. I smiled.

"Thank you so much. I would still be stuck there if it wasn't for you." I said giving him a small kiss on the cheek. He blushed a little.

"It was my pleasure." He said smiling at me. It was my turn to blush. I thanked Sirius and I ran up to my dorm room leaving the two of them standing there. Once in bed I fell straight asleep, I had forgotten all about my weird experience in the common room. The next morning was Saturday and I was excited to watch the game between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. But I had no idea what to wear, I was going through my luggage and I was trying to find something that I hadn't worn yet but I couldn't find anything. Even when I went through Lily's stuff I couldn't find anything. So I went to breakfast with a white shirt and black pants. The mail came and I got a package from someone but it didn't have a name on it. Drew came over to my table and grabbed my package.

"HEY!" I yelled at him. I hated when he did that at home too. He handed my a box with some stuff in it.

"That one is your, this one is mine. Trust me." He said and he ran off. I gave him the evil look before he disappeared completely. I looked inside my box and I laughed, good old Micah. I grabbed my box and ran out of there as fast as I could. In the dorm I emptied out the box and inside was a tourquoise tank top with some wooden beads along the laced collar that were spaced just evenly. I pulled it on and it looked incredible on me. Thank god she sent that and a few other shirts that I absolutely loved. There was also some candies and a few necklaces that I had lent her that I loved. I put on my turquoise Hawaiian necklace and it looked great. I was in business.

At the Quidditch game I was cheering on Drew, he was doing incredible. I couldn't help but be proud of him.

"Arent you guys twins?" A girl from my class said.

"Yeah, we are." I said smiling, I was trying to remember her name.

"That's awesome. I have a twin too, she goes to another school though. I think your brother is awesome." She said.

"Thanks. He is an awesome guy. I'm lucky to be related to him." I said looking back at Drew who had just made another spectacular save. Lily was sitting next to James and he had his arm around her.

"Are you? Did you? Oh my god, im so happy for you guys!" I squealed and gave both of them a hug. Sirius was sitting next to James and Amber was sitting on his lap. I wasn't wearing a bra and I was hoping that Sirius was noticing. Alfie was sitting near by and he came closer to me.

"Hey." He said smiling down at me, he definitely noticed.

"Hey, its my knight in shining armour!" I said giving him a small hug. He laughed and hugged me back.

"I just came over to see how you were feeling. Good, I hope." He said. I motioned for him to sit down.

"I am now that you're here." I said smiling at him, out of the corner of my eye I saw Lily roll her eyes. Alfie and I talked for a long time, I was barely paying attention to the game.

"Are you serious! I love muggle movies, I always watch them. Or I used to." I said.

"Oh, me too. I love the action adventure ones and the comedies." He said.

"The Three Stooges!" We said in unison. Then we started to imitate them and I was laughing so hard I didn't notice that Ravenclaw had won the game. I got up with the rest and started cheering. Alfie was still making me laugh though. We followed the rest of the group and we met up with Drew and Derek. I introduced Drew to Alfie and he liked him instantly. We all were sitting by the lake hanging out and talking. Drew was getting to know Alfie in a sly type of way. James started to talk to Alfie about some band and Drew turned his attention to me.

"I like him." He said.

"Wow, then you should go out with him. I think he would be a good influence on you." I said laughing.

"I haven't seen you laugh like that in ages. I think he is a good influence on you." Drew said. I shrugged, I didn't want to pressure anything.

"He's pretty cool… oh, I need to tell you something." I said. I excused me and Drew and we walked far away from anyone.

"Something weird happened last night. I so mad and my blood felt like it was boiling and I just started to kind levitate. By myself, no wand, nothing." I said.

"I know, it happened to me in bed too. I was pissed off at Derek because I just found out what had happened between you two." He said.

"Do you think we can use out magic without wands?" I asked him.

"Its possible. I know people can do it. I mean our magic is tied to our emotions. Maybe when we feel extreme emotion, that happens to us." He said.

"Well, what ever it is, we should figure it out. I felt so weird." I said finally and we agreed to talk about it later because people were kind of staring at us. We joined the group again and I went back to talking with Alfie. He made the simplest things in life funny. He took everyday stupid things that people did and put a funny twist on them and some of them were things that I once did. I few times I would notice Sirius looking at us and then he would look away. He didn't seem as happy as he was when I knew him, when it was just us. But I didn't want to think about him. I wanted to concentrate on Alfie, he seemed so cool.

"So, Ash, would you like to go out this weekend? It's a Hogsmead day tomorrow." He said.

"I would love to!" I said.


	12. Chapter 12

At Hogsmeade, Alfie and I went on our own adventure. We went to certain stores and played pranks on some storeowners. We had 'accidentally' knocked over a tub full of flesh eating slugs sending the store into chaos.

"Oh my god, I hope no one gets hurt." I said once we had stopped laughing. He wrapped his arms around my waist and he gave me a small kiss.

"I like that you are so compassionate. Even after a prank." He said. I kissed him back for the compliment. We went into the local bar and everyone I hung out with was sitting around the table. We joined them but there wasn't much room to sit so we stood. He stood behind me putting his arms around my waist. They felt great there, he knew exactly where to put his hands and when.

"So you guys had a great time?" Drew asked.

"Oh yeah." I said and we laughed at all the things we did.

"Can I ask you a question?" Sirius asked Drew. He nodded.

"How come you weren't exactly nice to anyone who gets close to Ashleigh but with him you're fine with it." Sirius asked. Drew tensed up.

"Because I like him. He's a good influence, seems like a great guy." Drew said.

"Hey, what school are we playing next Saturday?" I asked to change the subject.

"Some school from France." James said catching on and started to talk about their suppose weaknesses and strengths. Amber was looking at me and Alfie and a thought struck me. What if she got to Alfie like she had gotten to Derek?

"Come on, let's go." I said pulling him away. He was a little reluctant at first but then he started to follow. We were just walking and enjoying everything around us.

"You know Amber right?" I asked him.

"Yeah, everyone does." He said.

"Do you like her? I mean there are some people that worship her and others simply hate her." I told him.

"Which answer will make you happy?" He asked.

"The truth." I said simply.

"I don't worship her. I don't hate her either."

"What if she told you that if you went out with me then you would become a social outcast?" I asked him getting more to the point.

"Sounds like it's happened before." He said.

"Yea it has." I said looking toward my feet.

"She already told me." He said. And my head popped up look at him.

"And you still went out with me?" I asked him.

"I'm here aren't I?" He said. I nodded. I liked this guy.

"Yeah, you are." I said slipping my hand into his. Alfie was such a great guy there was only one problem. We didn't have the same chemistry that Sirius and I had instantly. I had to stop thinking about Sirius so I stopped and Alfie stopped with me and I kissed him. He was just as tall as Sirius and I had to make him bend a little to get to me but it still worked. We kissed for a bit until someone yelled 'get a room!' We both blushed slightly as we pulled apart.

"Hey Ash!" Drew yelled waving them over. They went straight for him and realized that Professor McGonagall was bringing everyone back.

A few weeks later

Alfie and I had started going out and we spent a lot of time together. Most of the time we were inseparable. So when he said he had a surprise for me and that he wanted me to come to his house during Christmas break for the day, I said yes. Drew and I had felt a little weird in our grandfather's house anyway. Drew decided he wanted to go to see Micah and I was alone so I left for Alfie's house. When I got there he answered the door right away.

"Hey gorgeous." He said leading me into the house.

"Hi." I said giving him a big kiss. I had taken a cab over here because my grandfather wasn't on the floo network yet. He wasn't used to floo powder, he just apparated. He eagerly kissed me back.

"Come on." He said leading me up the stairs. We entered a room that looked like it could be his.

"Is this your room?" I asked.

"Yeah it is. My bachelor pad." He said laughing. I gave him another kiss dropping my purse on the ground. He picked me up and gently placed me on the bed. I didn't want to do anything more than make out. I wasn't ready, we had only been going out for a couple of weeks. He put his hand up my shirt as we kissed but I pulled his hand back out. A few minutes later he put it under my shirt again and I pulled it back out.

"Alfie!" I said and we stopped kissing.

"What?" He said innocently.

"I don't want to do anything more than kiss." I said.

"Why do you got to tease me then?" He said sounding angry. I we getting a little scared so I pulled back and away from him.

"Maybe I should go." I said trying to get out from under him. He pushed me back onto the bed forcefully.

"Stop! Let go of me." I yelled. He had pushed his body against mine pinning me to the bed. He held both of my arms with one hand and I couldn't move. I was struggling and he was trying to kiss me but I wouldn't let him.

"Stop it Alfie! I mean it!" I yelled again.

"Shut up!" he said throwing me so hard against the headboard that I blacked out.

When I woke up I was half way naked and he was zipping his pants. I knew what had happened but I couldn't face it. I pulled my clothes on and ran out of the house in tears. HOW dare he! I was so mad, I went to a local wizarding community and I used the local fireplace to floo. I went home, back to America. The one place where I felt the safest, my old home. Dust had covered most of the bits of furniture that was left. I went to my mom's room, their bed was still in the same spot. I curled up on the bed and cried myself to sleep.

Drew walked in at some point and came to lay next to me. We stayed there for hours laying in silence. Occasionally one of us would cry but the other would comfort each other and I told him what happened. He was so mad I had to calm him down and force him to stay there with me. I didn't want him to leave me there alone.

"How did you know?" I asked him through my tears.

"I felt your pain and your emotions. They were so strong, I didn't know what to do. So I came here." He said.

"Grandfather might be worried if I don't get home soon." I said.

"I had Micah owl him telling him you're here." He said.

"You're on top of everything." I said.

"Ash, I'm sorry. I feel like I pushed that relationship on you. He seemed like such a great guy. I never would have guessed that he was such an asshole." He said through gritted teeth. I could feel him go completely tense next to me.

"Its not your fault. I wanted it to work. I thought he was a great guy too." I said.

Christmas wasn't the same, we had spent it at Micah's. Her and I had gone shopping for some new clothes. I had bought a few outfits that didn't show any skin or cleavage. Mostly big sweaters and jeans. When it was time to go back to Hogwarts, I made Drew promise that he would stay near me at all times. Which meant we were going to talk to Dumbledore. On the train Drew had gotten me a chocolate frog and a bag of Bernie Botts every flavour beans. Two of my favorite candies. Sirius and Remus came and sat with us saving seats for Lily, James and Peter.

"Hey." Sirius said to both of us.

"Hi." I said. Drew just nodded.

"How was your holiday?" Remus asked.

"It was ok." I asked wrapping my arms around my knees and bringing my knees up to my chest. Drew was actually talking with Sirius and Remus politely. He seemed to be more talkative than before but maybe that was because I wasn't as talkative as before. I was off in my own world until I felt Drew get up. I looked and I saw him on top of Alfie, he was beating him and he wasn't stopping.

"Hey, what the hell is your problem mate?" Sirius asked finally getting between the two of them.

"Sirius, get out of my way. I'm only going to kill him." Drew said.

"What the bloody hell did he do to you?" Sirius asked.

"Its not what he did to me, its what he did to Ash. I just want to make him hurt as much as he hurt her!" Drew shouted.

"I'm sorry if she couldn't take it when I broke up with her, but no need to try and kill me." Alfie said. Now blood inside me was boiling.

"You didn't break up with me you bastard. You raped me!" I said going after him myself. I had regained the strength that I had lost once I saw him and I remembered how much I hated him. Sirius, who was standing in between me and Alfie was now looking back and forth. He decided to believe me and went after Alfie himself.

"YOU BLOODY GIT" Sirius said cursing him over and over. Alfie kept hitting the walls repeatedly. Remus had to take Sirius' wand and stop him from going after him at all. A few of the adults on the train finally came around.

"What is going on here?" Asked a charms teacher.

"Professor, they wont stop coming after me." Alfie said. We were almost to the school. They made us follow them into their compartment and tried to talk to us but there were too many voices so they decided to take us straight to Dumbledore.

In Dumbledore's office, I said in between Sirius and Drew. Remus was excused to leave and Alfie was sitting across the room from us.

"Will one of you please tell me what is going on." Dumbledore said.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, over Christmas vacation, well Alfie… he…. He sort of…." I tried but I couldn't, I was too embarrassed.

"He raped her." Drew finished for me. Part of me was grateful but another part was embarrassed to death. I hated being a victim.

"Is this accusation true Mr. Calahan?" He asked Alfie.

"Of course not Professor." He said. Dumbledore stared straight at him and he shook his head.

"I would have thought you would have more sense then that." Dumbledore said.

"What?" Alfie said.

"What you did was unexceptable and unforgivable. I'm afraid I am going to have to expel you." He said.

"WHAT?" Alfie yelled.

"Sexual assault on a student is grounds for expulsion. I'm afraid I no longer want you at this school." He said.

"Whoa, whoa. I'm not going down alone. This was all Amber's idea from the beginning. She said if I did it she would talk her dad into getting a great job for me. She's also the one who threatened Ash. I have proof, these are pictures of her sending off the reporters pictures of their parents." He said desparately. Dumbledore concentrated really hard and then he nodded.

"She will be expelled too." He said.


	13. Chapter 13

"There is something else we wish to talk to you about." Drew said. Dumbledore nodded for him to go on. Dumbledore had excused Alfie from the room long ago.

"Either I am put in the same house as Ash or we transfer schools. There is too much time spent in the common rooms where she would be alone. That's not going to happen." Drew said. Dumbledore thought for a minute before talking.

"Very well, I have to say that you showed some amazing courage and therefore you are now placed in Gryffindor. But you will remain on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. It would be unfair to them to take you off the team in the middle of the year." Dumbledore said.

"Ok." Drew said. He was prepared to fight but he didn't have to at all.

"One other thing, about Amber." Sirius spoke up.

"What is it, Mr. Black?"

"She knows about Remus' condition and she is threatening to tell everyone. I don't want Remus to go through that, is there something you can do?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, I believe there is." He said calling Professor McGonagall who brought in Amber.

"Hello." She said. She was looking around at all the faces. Dumbledore said a spell and Amber fell to the ground.

"A memory charm. Don't tell anyone." He said winking. She got up and looked around again.

"Would you like to explain why you were threatening Miss Cox here?" Dumbeldore asked her.

"I….I don't know what you are talking about." She said regaining her confidence. Dumbeldore threw the pictures across his desk and she picked them up.

"I am going to have to expel you for threatening another student." Dumbledore said. Amber seemed to be speechless. Dumbledore asked us to leave and told Amber to sit down. We all joined Lily, James, Remus and Peter in the Great Hall. There was a bunch of different foods but I didn't feel hungry at all. I felt sick to my stomach. So I played with my food and pretended to eat. I had to pretend because Drew was watching me like a hawk.

"I'm really tired. I'm going to go to bed." I said getting up. Drew got up to follow but I told him to stay. He finally gave in and I left. I was really tired, I was always tired lately.

I woke the next morning feeling very sluggish. I climbed out of bed, pulled my hair into a ponytail and pulled my robes over a baggy sweatshirt and jeans. The jeans were a little too tight for my taste but I wore them anyway. I didn't wake up in time for breakfast so I had to skip it. Drew was waiting in the common room.

"Where have you been?" He asked when I finally came down.

"Sleeping." I said

"Thanks, I didn't get to eat breakfast cause I was waiting for you." He said.

"Sorry, you should have left." I told him. He rolled his eyes and we left the common room. He sat next to me in all my classes and he wouldn't let me out of his sight. It didn't even bother me anymore. I felt empty and gone and I didn't know why. The bad thing was I missed Alfie, I missed the way I felt about him. Not Alfie himself, just the feeling that I could fall in love. I wanted to fall in love but at the same time I was so scared.

"Hey." Sirius said sitting next to me in the common room. I promised Drew that I would sit in the common room for at least an hour before going to bed. He was at Quidditch practice right now. He probably asked Sirius to keep an eye on me. Ever since Sirius stood up for me on the train Drew has liked him a tad bit more.

"Hi." I said staring into the fire. I was freezing because I wasn't used to this cold at all.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Sirius, if you, or anyone else asks me that one more time I will scream!" I said. I was so tired of hearing those words.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I guess I just don't know what to say." He said.

"How have you been?" I asked changing the subject.

"I've been ok." He said.

"I'm sorry Amber got expelled when you just started to like her." I said looking at my toes. Micah had taken me to a spa and we got manicures and pedicures.

"I lied to you. She said she was going to make your life miserable because she found out we were owling each other. I guess I didn't want you to suffer. A lot of good that did huh?" He said looking everywhere but at me.

"So you really didn't start to like her? Was it still a fling?" I asked him. I wanted to know because I still liked him.

"No." He said looking into my eyes this time. It was too intense for me so I looked away.

"I didn't think so." I whispered. Part of me wanted to kiss him but another part of me couldn't. I couldn't kiss any guy for a while it would remind me of Alfie. His hand brushed mine a little and a slight chill went through my body.

"Sorry." He muttered when he saw my reaction.

"Its ok." I said and my hour was up.

"I'm going to go to bed." I said getting up and leaving. I went to the bathroom and glanced at myself in the mirror. I looked horrible, my eyes had black bags under them and my face looked older. I looked like crap. Why would anyone want me at all?

The next few days I was just being laid back and watching everything around me. I never really noticed so much before. Like the way James and Sirius walked around like they owned the place and they pranked almost everyone. I never noticed that more of the students in the in crowd hung around near the lake or that certain staircase moved when you were on them. That was a huge surprise because I just happened to get lost that day. I was on my way back to the common room after studying alone in the library. I had convinced Drew to leave me alone for a few hours.

"Move! Abra Kadabra! Move Sesame!" I said jumping up and down on the top step but the stairs still didn't move. I sighed and walked down the hall and then I heard the stairs moving again.

"No!" I said loudly when I couldn't catch the top stair. Then I heard some laughter further down the hall. I walked down there in hopes of finding someone who could give me some directions. When I turned the corner I saw a saw a group that I recognized from the Slytherin house in a big circle. I was about to leave when I heard a whimper.

"Hey!" I shouted. The slytherins stopped and turned toward me. I saw what was in the middle of them all, it was a Gryffindor. I recognized him from the common room. He was a first or second year.

"Go away! Or you'll get it too." A girl with jet-black hair and a nasty smile said.

"Leave him alone or I'll hex you." I said. I couldn't think of anything threatening or scary. The girl who had turned back to the boy decided he was boring and turned her attention to me. I was hoping they would forget what I said and leave both of us alone. But she didn't. I recognized the boy that was next to her. It was that guy Malfoy.

"You want a piece of this action. I can give it to you." She said raising her wand. I took mine out too, the thing was I didn't need my wand. Every since that weird night I had been practicing my magic without wand. I found that at the mere thought of Alfie I could do a bunch of things, like move objects with my hands and I could also freeze things in time if I concentrated hard enough and do certain jinxes and spells with my hands only. Wands were useless to me now but I didn't want anyone knowing that.

"I said leave him alone. Why don't you and your little group go and pick on someone who actually cares to duel you." I said.

"Cares or isn't afraid?" She said challengingly.

"I'm not afraid." I said.

"What if I sick one of those boys on you. I heard you like to fight off the boys." She said. I motioned for the kid to come closer to me and he just got up and ran but instead of stopping he kept going. Great, I was alone now.

"I'm not afraid of you or any boys you have to throw at me." I said. I was ready to fight now; I wasn't scared. The girl raised her wand and I flew against the far wall with a strong force. I was motionless for a second before I jumped up and cursed each one of them. I didn't make them fly, I made them turn into something else entirely different. Their entire bodies erupted in boils.

"Buh bye." I said leaving them but when I turned my back she cursed me and my hair disappeared. I wiggled my nose and it returned. She threw another curse at me but I jumped out of the way and it hit someone else. I needed to get out of there. I ran around the corner and the staircase was back. I ran down the stairs and closer to the library. There would be people in there, so I would be safe. Just as I was about to enter the library I caught a glimpse of Drew, Sirius, James and Remus running towards me.

"Ash! Are you ok?" Drew said looking at my torn robes and busted lip. That was the extent of my physical injury that could be seen with the eye. I felt much worse inside. My back ached and my stomach had major cramps in it.

"Yeah, fine. Are you ok?" I asked. I felt a weird, exhilarating feeling. Like I was free of the feelings that held me hostage all this time. I wasn't scared of anyone or anything. Nothing could hurt me!

"Josh came running into the common room telling us what you did." Sirius said.

"No biggie." I said walking closer to the common room. My back was aching but I wasn't going to let it show. I turned around suddenly.

"I'm hungry." I said. I hadn't eaten in a few days and my stomach was aching, not just the cramps but it was growling for food.

"Ok, but supper isn't for another 4 hours." James said.

"That's ok. I got something in my trunk." I said running the rest of the way to the common room. I opened my trunk in my room and I found what I was looking for. Micah had given me a miniature fridge and in it was bologna, cream cheese and bagels. I walked back down the stairs and sat next to Sirius.

"Want some?" I asked cheerily. He looked at it with a hesitant expression.

"No, Ash, not that again!" Drew said. I always used to make Cream cheese and bologna sandwiches. It grossed Drew out to no end. Sirius took a bite when I wasn't looking.

"That's good!" He said taking another bite. I pulled it back, because I didn't want it to disappear. I offered it to the rest but they all said no so Sirius and i shared it.

"So what happened?" Lily asked.

"They were jinxing Josh and I didn't think it was fair to have 5 to one so I jumped in and they went after me." I said.

"What did they throw at you?"

"Um… they threw me against the wall and they threw another curse but I dodged that one. And then I ran." I said.

"Did you do anything to them?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah I gave em all boils all over their bodies. Most of them couldn't stop screaming. It was great." I said laughing at the memory.

"Looks like you can take care of yourself." Drew said laughing. I nodded, I sure could. I didn't have to be a victim, things were behind me and I wasn't going to let anything happen to me ever again. I was going to fight until the bloody end.


	14. Chapter 14

I felt like my old self again. I wasn't wearing the same clothes or acting the same way. I never showed any cleavage or a lot of skin. I usually wore t-shirts and jeans and now that it was still winter I was wearing a lot of coats. Life seemed easier now that Amber was gone, I could openly flirt with Sirius if I wanted to. But I didn't, I mean occasionally we would flirt and joke around but nothing major. I liked him, I liked him a lot. I just didn't want him knowing that. We had played another school and we were kicking butt. At Quidditch practice the coach was working with Derek and James leaving me to talk to Sirius freely. We were both sitting on the grass playing with the blades.

"Ash?" He said.

"Hmm?" I said trying to blow between two pieces of grass. Drew knew how to do it right to make it whistle, I just never learned and I hated that he could do something that I couldn't.

"Are you going to the Easter ball?" He asked me. I shrugged still playing with the grass.

"Haven't really thought about it." I said finally giving up on my sorry attempt of making noise. He was watching me; he had a small twinkle in his eye that made him look cute.

"Would you go with me?" He asked after what seemed like a long silence. I knew that's where this was leading.

"Sure." I shrugged trying not to look too happy.

"Don't jump up too fast now." He said laughing.

"Black! Hewitt! Get over here!" The coach yelled. We ran over there with our brooms and practice for us was starting. While I was trying to play I kept looking toward Sirius. I was happy that I was going out with him but I didn't want him to expect for me to kiss him. I couldn't kiss him or anyone just yet, I wasn't ready. The coach pushed us long and hard, it hurt just to walk. In the common room we all just collapsed on the nearest couch. I was sitting halfway on Sirius' lap and leaning on Drew.

"I'm tired." I stated, rubbing my eyes and groaning. They just nodded.

"Man, she wore you guys out." Lily said sitting next to James. They made such a cute couple. I was glad that they were finally together. This year was just weird; it was unusual for neither Drew nor me to be single. In our old school we were the playboys there. I looked at Sirius, I had always imagined him as the playboy type. I wonder how long Stacy had her claws in him. How long has it been since he was even allowed to look at another girl?

"Hey Sirius?" I said. Everyone had left the common room except us.

"Yeah?" He said without opening his eyes.

"How long did Stacy blackmail you into being her boyfriend?" I asked him.

"Since the end of last year." He said opening his eyes looking at me.

"And let me guess, before that you were the playboy of the school?" I asked him. He smiled and looked down.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He said.

"How many girls have you gone out with?" I asked him.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Ball park it." I said. He looked at me with confusion.

"Give an estimate." I said in non-American terms.

"I would say almost every girl in our year, 6th year and a few 7th and 4th years too." He said. When he saw the look on my face he held up his hands.

"Hey you asked." He said innocently

"I didn't think it would be that much." I said rolling my eyes.

"How about you?" He asked me.

"Probably about the same." I said.

"You're kidding me right?" He said.

"No, i'm not. What its ok for you to have that many but not me?" I said challengingly.

"Well, yeah… I mean it's just not normal to meet someone who has…." He couldn't finish. I was getting so mad at him for even thinking that way.

"You mean someone who is like you? If i'm a whore then you're a whore." I said.

"I didn't say you were a whore, I just said that it wasn't normal for a girl to…" He stopped.

"Screw you Sirius." I said leaving him there with his mouth open. I hated when people thought that way. It was ok for guys to go out with tons and tons of girls but far be it that a girl goes out with more than one or two guys. Guys would be considered cool while girls were considered easy and sluts. God, what a hypocrite! I thought as I slammed the dorm door waking almost everyone up.

Sirius' POV

"You're kidding me right?" I said. That was a little weird. I usually didn't meet a girl who had gone out with as many guys as I have girls.

"No, i'm not. What its ok for you to have that many but not me?" she said challenging me. I had to say something but I didn't know how to form it in words.

"Well, yeah… I mean it's just not normal to meet someone who has…." I couldn't finish. I was so screwed just for opening my mouth. Why did she have to bring this up. Not many girls like the idea that I have been around the block and back a few times.

"Someone who is like you? If I'm a whore then you're a whore." She said. I didn't know what to say. I didn't think she was a whore, that's for sure. I thought she was the most stunning person I have ever met.

"I didn't say you were a whore, I just said that it wasn't normal for a girl to…" I stopped. I should have just shut up and not said anything! I'm so stupid.

"Screw you Sirius." She said leaving me there with my mouth open. Great, just great. The one girl I actually have real feelings for is now mad at me and probably hates my guts. Although I would hate my guts too. But I didn't call her a whore she was putting words into my mouth. I hated when people did that and she was doing just that. Maybe she wasn't as perfect as I thought.

I got up and walked to my dorm, I was so tired I could probably sleep for weeks. And it felt like I had when I woke up in mid afternoon. Oh, man I must have missed my classes, I thought until I realized that it was Saturday and I didn't have any. When I finally decided to get up and get dressed so did James who looked just as bad as I felt.

"Come on Prongs, I'm hungry." I said pulling him away form his bed. We entered the common room and I caught sight of Ashleigh, I wanted to apologize to her for last night.

"Ash, wait!" I yelled before she left the common room. She turned and glared at me.

"What?" She asked. It sounded like she was shooting venom at me.

"I wanted to say I was sorry about last night." I said.

Ashleigh's POV

He was saying sorry to me, and I knew that I should be the one apologizing because I blew it all out of proportion. But I still felt as if I was right for saying that I did. He was being a hypocrite and that just pissed me off. James slipped past us and grabbed Lily before I could say anything. Even though I was mad at him I felt as if I was partially responsible because I had asked and started this whole thing.

"No, don't. Its my fault…" I said.

"No, I shouldn't have said what I did. I was think…."

"No, I started the whole…"

"God, would you let me apologize? I'm trying to be a gentleman." He said getting irritated. I could tell he was getting mad but I was just trying to clear things up.

"I was just trying to tell you that…." I started.

"I can't even say i'm sorry. This is crazy." He said shaking his head.

"What ever happened to that instant chemistry we had?" I asked because it was all gone. Ever since he told me that he wanted to break things off with me when Amber was still around, all we did was fight about stupid things. About Quidditch, classes, charms, everything.

"I don't know. Maybe it's not such a good idea going to the ball with each other. We'll probably fight all night anyway." He said running his hand through his hair.

"You're so right. I'll see you." I said leaving him. I still liked him but I didn't want to admit it to him. He was probably just going to make me one of his conquests. Go after me, use me and then move on to the next person. And I didn't want to do that anymore, I couldn't do that anymore. I needed to find someone who would or could fall in love with me. At lunch I didn't eat much because I was feeling sick, I wanted to throw up but nothing was coming up.

"Are feeling alright?" Remus asked me. I looked up and smiled.

"Yeah, I think I'm coming down with the flu though." I said pushing my sausage around in a circle on my plate.

"Are you sure its not because of…." But he couldn't finish that sentence because the urge to throw up was too strong. I got up and ran out of the hall with my hand over my mouth. I couldn't make it to the nearest bathroom if I wanted to. I ended up throwing up in the hall instead. Drew was right behind me rubbing my back.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I think I have the flu." I said sniffling.

"I'll take you to the hospital wing." He said, I shook my head no. all I wanted to do was lay in my bed and rest.

"No, I just want to rest." I said. He understood so he helped me up and escorted me to the dorms. He led me up to his though.

"I want to be able to keep an eye on you. And since those stupid stairs leading to your dorm are going to prevent that. You can sleep in my bed." He said. I shrugged, I didn't care. I just wanted to fall asleep, get away from these cramps. I placed my head on his pillow an instantly fell asleep.

The living room was bare and I didn't know why everything was gone. Mom had prided herself on the furniture she picked out. She was an interior designer. Was she redecorating? I heard the slam of the front screen and two kids ran in. A small girl with bright green hair and brown eyes was running from a boy who had black hair and blue eyes.

"You can't catch me!" She yelled jumping up and levitating into the air.

"I can too!" The boy yelled jumping up too, he tapped her and lowered himself back to the ground. He ran back out of the house and the girl chased him.

"You guys, what have I told you about levitating in the house?" A familiar voice said coming from the kitchen. I felt myself being drawn there and inside was mom, dad, and a few other people. One of the people around the table was Dumbledore.

"I hoped I would never see the day when the Order would have to assemble." I heard my father say to Dumbledore.

"So did I, its not urgent now, the minister isn't even concerned about it right now. He just passed the job to us. We have to find out who is killing all these muggles. Pender thinks it's a new terrorist group." Dumbledore said. He looked exactly the same.

"Mommmmmmmmy!" My little voice rang out from the front yard. I remembered everything now, this was when Drew broke his arm and our mom decided to fix it the muggle way to teach a lesson about levitating. We never did levitate again, we forgot all about that particular power. And what was this thing that my dad called the Order. A secret society maybe. I knew that my dad had grown up in England and he came here to go to muggle college and that was where he met my mom. They fell in love instantly he said. The chemistry was too strong to ignore.

I was jerked awake suddenly. Drew was standing in front of me trying to wake me up.

"What?" I asked groggily.

"You were talking in your sleep. You yelled mommy. Woke up everyone here." He said feeling my forehead. I hated when people did that, its not like they know my eact temperature.

"Oh yeah, I was having a bit of a dream" I said, I looked around and all 4 boys were standing around the bed, Drew was stepping on what looked like a sleeping bag. He was sleeping on the floor letting me sleep in his bed.

"The one where I broke my arm?" He asked.

"How did you know?" I asked him. This freaky twin thing happened often but it always caught me by surprise.

"I dreamed it too." He said quietly.

"I want to go to my room, or at least the common room. I don't want to be here." I said looking up at all the faces.

"ok." Drew said and I left the room, once we were in to common room I turned to look at him.

"Did you see Dumbledore?" I asked.

"Yeah. And what is this Order thing?" He asked me. I shrugged, I had no idea what it was.

"Why did that memory seem to come up. We weren't even near the kitchen in that memory. Are we just seeing the past or something?" I asked him.

"I don't know but its weird. Maybe we should get some sleep. Talk about it in the morning." He said. I realized that I had slept all afternoon and almost all night.

"OK, goodnight." I said going to bed, though I had tons of sleep already I was tired.


	15. Chapter 15

"DAVID!" I heard the bone-chilling scream. It was panicking and I couldn't find where it was coming from.

"It's ok. I'm here." I heard the soothing sound of my father's voice. I looked to my right, there was nothing but blackness. I concentrated and I saw the two figures, one was slumped against the other. My dad was holding my mom. Where were they? A bunch of lights were approaching them and I recognized the stones that littered the area as gravestones. What were my parents doing in a graveyard?

"So am I." I voice that sent shivers up and down my back said. A light went up to his face, he was a horrid looking person. He was pale and so ugly that I had to look away. He had an evil smirk on his face when he stared at my parents.

"Get the hell away from us." My father said. He reminded me of Drew, so protective of family.

"Join me and you never have to be scared again. I only except the best." He said.

"Never! We will never stoop to your level." My mother said. She seemed as if all the energy she had was put into that sentence. He ugly man raised his wand but my father was too quick for him and he pulled out a necklace and they disappeared.

"Find them, and then kill them. But don't kill their children." He said As soon as I heard those words I was yanked from my spot and everything around me was swirling into different colors. I landed with a thud, in Hogwarts. How did I get out of bed? Was I sleep walking, oh filch will love this. I was about to run back to the common room before I got caught when I saw my parents. My dad was carrying my mom.

"David, what happened?" I heard Dumbledores voice.

"He used the crucio curse, that's an unforgivable curse. He's dangerous, we have to take care of him now. I saw at least 20 followers, there could be more." My dad said. My mom was trying to overcome the pain.

All of a sudden the colors around me swirled and I saw a red haired lady screaming and a flash of green light. The colors swirled yet again and I saw someone who could be Peter die along with 12 other people. The colors swirled again and I saw a werewolf heading straight for a small lump huddled on the ground. The colors swirled yet again and all I say was blood tons and tons of blood on white sheets. Then colors swirled again and I saw a graveyard, with Drew and I in it. But before the colors could swirl again I was trying to scream no.

I was shaken awake and my covers were all over the place. Lily's face came into view.

"Ash, are you ok? You were screaming in your sleep and you were thrashing about in your bed." Lily said. I got up and looked at all the faces peering out of their curtains.

"Yeah, I am, sorry. No need to worry." I said. Lily was looking at me with concerned eyes.

"Really, it was just a nightmare." I said, she could have been the red-haired lady.

"A nightmare?"

"Yeah, you know, the stress from O.W.L.s is finally kicking in." I said even though the O.W.L.s were months away. She nodded hesitantly and went back to her bed. I glanced at the clock near my bed. It was 6 o'clock. I should go out for a quick run of the grounds. I got up trying to be quiet and I pulled on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I raced down the stairs and Remus was sitting in to common room.

"Hey you!" I said walking up to him.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Bunchies." I said sitting next to him.

"I'm glad. Where are you going?" He asked me.

"I'm going out for a run, care to join?" I asked.

"I'm not much of a runner." He said shyly. Remus was quiet cute if you looked past the worn out look. But his fabulous personality made up for anything he was lacking.

"Ok, I guess I'll go get Drew. Is he up there?" I asked him.

"Yeah. But careful, everyone wanted to murder you last night for waking us up at 3 in the morning." He said.

"Hey Remus…" I said, I was going to ask him to the ball.

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to the ball?" I asked him. He looked a little uncomfortable.

"Uh… no, I actually have to go and visit my mum. She's sick and I don't want her to be alone." He said looking everywhere but at me.

"Ok, no problem, do you know anyone who is but doesn't have a date?" I asked.

"Sirius… and I think one of the Prewitt don't have a date. I heard one of them ask Lily during a prefect meeting." He said.

"Ok, I'll find myself a Prewitt then." I said running up the stairs to the boy's dorm. I creaked the door open.

"Anyone awake in here?" I whispered so I didn't walk in on anyone getting dressed. I saw Drew walk out of the bathroom with his sweat suit on.

"Run?" I asked.

"You read my mind." He said and we set off to run all our troubles away. That's what I loved about running, you could run and run and run and nothing could catch up with you. Not even your thoughts because you are concentrating on your breathing.

"Did you…" I was about to ask.

"Yea." He stated, his breathing was steady and calm.

"They did defy him. We at least know that." I said.

"We just have to find out what the Order is." Drew said.

"We could look at old newspapers." I suggested. The library had a collection of old newspapers ever since the first newspaper was printed.

"Today?" He asked.

"Of course. I'm curious now, I need to know what happened and who the Order is." I said.

"What if we can't find anything?" He asked me.

"Easter Break is coming up, I say we pay Micah and her parents a visit. They were best friends, they have to know something." I said to him.

"I don't know, I mean would you tell your best friend if you were in SECRET society." He said.

"I'd tell you. Anyway, that's assuming it is a secret society. We don't know what it is at all." I said.

"Dumbledore has to know, we could ask him." Drew suggested. I think he was starting to trust Dumbledore a little more.

"But then if it is a SERCET society he wouldn't tell us anything." I said.

"Neither would Micah's parents." Drew said, this was one of those petty arguments that siblings got in. We had stopped running by now and we were close to the door.

"Fine, Fine. We'll ask Dumbledore first and if that doesn't work then we will go to the newspapers and if that doesn't work then we will ask Micah's parents during Easter break." I said.

"Fine. Lets go to Dumbledore now before a lot of students come down for breakfast." We walked up the steps to the castle and went straight for the great hall. Dumbledore just had to tell us, I mean these were our parents. He was sitting in his usual seat eating marmalade on toast.

"Professor Dumbledore?" I said uncertainly. He looked up at us and smiled.

"Hello, been out for a run?" He asked.

"Yeah… er… we were wondering if we could talk to you." Drew said.

"Of course, what is it about?" He asked.

"The Order. The same Order that you are in and our parents were in once." I said. I decided to make it look like we knew what we were talking about. He'd have to tell us information then. When I said that he had lost his smile and the twinkle in his eye.

"Lets go to my office." He said in a hushed voice and we followed him. He said a password and we entered his office, it was unusually cluttered. I recognized newspaper clipping in one corner. Most of the ones on top reported the muggle killings that had been happening all around England. He motioned for us to sit down across from him.

"What is it you want to know?" He asked us.

"We want to know what it is, how our parents got into it and what you guys do." Drew said being straightforward.

"And why they died." I added. He nodded.

"You have a right to know. But I need from you to swear not to tell anyone. Not even your friends… the Order of the Phoenix is a secret group that fights against evil. We were first established in the 1800's when troll rebellion happened. We had to fight against them o keep them from hurting any innocent people. The Order recruits the best of the best but luckily we rarely are called to do anything. Until recently a guy, Lord Voldermort, has been gaining power, he started about 5 years ago, I believe when you guys were ten. At first we thought nothing of it, but we tried to catch him and it was getting harder and harder."

"Why did our parents join? We were only ten what if something happened?" Drew said a little too loudly. He wasn't mad at Dumbledore, he was mad at our parents.

"Your dad had been in the Order since he graduated from Hogwarts. And once Voldermort came into the picture your mom had joined because he was killing off everyone he could that was in the Order. That's why I made your parents stay in America, I didn't want you guys to lose them but then your dad volunteered for a mission and your mom got worried and went after him. That's when Voldermort learned of their identities. I kept you guys safe for a short while but your dad was tired of sitting behind a desk all day shuffling paper work for the government. So when they thought you guys were old enough and strong enough, they asked to come out of hiding."

"He just wanted to kill them because they were working for the Order?" I asked.

"That and because they refused to join him and they refused to let him have you guys." He said.

"Us? Why would he want us?" Drew asked. I remember part of my dream when I heard him say to not harm the kids. That was us.

"I'm sure that you have noticed that you are stronger than other wizards your age. You can do certain magic without your wand. I've been watching you guys, and your powers are going fast. You got it from the Wicca side of your family. Your grandmother was a powerful Wicca witch. Unfortunately, Wicca magic isn't as reliable as wizard magic. Your Wicca magic is connected strongly with your emotions and you have to master them before you can truly use them." He said. What? I was confused, our grandmother wasn't a witch, or at least a wizard witch? She was a Wicca witch?

"So our mom had these powers too?" I asked.

"No, the powers skipped her. But her dad was a wizard and so she solely practiced that. And she became one of the best." I couldn't believe it, all this family history and I had never knew about it. I looked at Drew and turned his eyes to the ground. He only did that when he was guilty. Did he know? And he didn't tell me.

"You knew" I said a little too loudly.

"She contacted me once. Every once in a while we would talk." He said still looking at the ground. UNBELIVEABLE!

"I can't believe you, why didn't you tell me? What was going through your thick skull. You know that I always wanted to meet our grandparents and you didn't even tell me that you talked to one of them. How could you?" I said getting angrier and angrier with every word. What was wrong with me, I never used to get this angry before, why was I so emotional with everything?

"I'm sorry, you're right I should have told you but I just didn't want her to be a disappointment to you." He said.

"A disappointment? How could she be a disappointment? She's my grandmother." I said.

"She's a mean old lady who is bitter. She hates everything including us. I asked her if we could live with her so we could stay in America and she told me that she didn't want us. She's horrible. She doesn't care about anyone but herself. I know what you think grandparents should be like and she's not it." He said.

"Stop trying to protect me, I can take care of myself! I don't need you to keep on surrounding me and shielding me from bad things." I said before I stormed out of the office. I couldn't stop myself from saying all those things, I tried but something is making me be a horrible person. On top of that those stupid cramps weren't going away. Maybe I should go to the hospital wing. Maybe she could give me something to soothe the pain. Once I entered the hospital wing the nurse came straight for me.

"What's the matter dear?" She asked pulling me closer to a bed.

"I just have some killer cramps in my stomach and my back hurts. Is there anything you can do?" I asked her. She nodded and placed me in the bed,

"Just lay down and I will be right back." She said. I nodded until a huge cramp came that made my whole body shudder with pain. What was wrong? I was feeling so weak. Maybe I shouldn't have gone running, I thought it would make me feel better but I was wrong. The nurse came back and she stated to feel my stomach asking me if it hurt when she would touch a certain spot. Then I felt another horrible cramp and I heard her gasp.

"What? What is it?" I asked her.

"Dear, have you started your period before?" She asked me.

"Yeah, when I was 13, why?" I asked trying to ignore the pain.

"I'll be right back." She said leaving me in mid cramp. It hurt so much all I wanted to do was cry but I stopped myself. Something was wrong, I could feel it. These weren't cramps associated with a period, these were worse and they seemed to be making me weak. The nurse rushed back in with Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall by her side.

"Oh Dear I see what you mean Penelope." Professor McGonagall said.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked getting a little scared.

"I think we should take her to St. Mungos." Dumbledore said conjuring up a stretcher.

"Where?" I asked panicky.


	16. Chapter 16

I couldn't remember much, just having all the colors around me swirl and I thought I was in one of those freaky dreams again. But then I saw doctors and more nurses and they were all rushing with me to a empty room. My stomach cramped up again and the doctors were saying something but I couldn't hear them, I was too weak to open my mouth. I did open my eyes and I saw all this blood all over the place. And I remembered the dream I had with all the blood on the white sheets. I passed out after that.

I woke up and I looked around me, it looked like I was in the hospital wing again. Light was shining in the window and I closed my eyes again, I was still tired and weak. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep. A felt a hand resting on my shoulder so I opened my eyes again. It was Drew.

"I think you like this place a little too much." He said. I gave a weak laugh.

"How long have I been sleeping?" I asked. My lips were severely chapped and I my throat was so dry. He handed me a glass of water. It was freaky how we could read each other's minds.

"3 days. The doctors said you had lost a lot of blood and that you would be really weak." He said.

"What happened?" I asked him. His eyes were replaced with dark hollows, he seemed really mad.

"You got pregnant and you had a miscarriage. They said if you hadn't come to the hospital in time you would have died." He said. A miscarriage? I thought and I felt a pang of guilt when I realized that part of me was happy. Was I supposed to be happy that an innocent life died?

"Are you serious?" I said a little to loudly. I heard a snort a few people moving and groaning. I looked around for the first time, my eyes were still having trouble focusing.

"Hey, she's awake. James wake up!" Lily said swatting him. He woke up with a jolt and fell out of his seat. These were some awesome friends.

"How long have you guys been here?" I asked.

"Almost every minute, except when we had to go to classes or meals. Are you Hungary?" Remus asked. I looked down at my stomach. I couldn't believe that I had a miscarriage. I really couldn't believe that I had gotten pregnant. Even though a innocent life I died I felt happy because I didn't want a baby, especially with Alfie.

"Yeah, actually I am." I said wrinkling my nose and my hair felt a hundred percent better. Everyone but Sirius and Drew gasped.

"I didn't know you could do that! That's awesome. How come you didn't tell us?" Lily said when I started to get out of the bed.

"I don't know, I guess I didn't think it was a big deal." I said. The nurse came rushing out.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I wanted to change and get something to eat." I said. Drew handed me a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Ok, but I want you to come back if you feel too weak. Ok?" She said looking at me harshly. Why didn't she have kids, she needed some just so she could mother them. I nodded and closed the curtains around me to block out all the guys. I had asked Lily to help me though and she agreed without any hesitation. She helped me pull on the t-shirt and the jeans. And then we went to breakfast.

In the Great Hall, people were staring at me and whispering but I just tried to ignore it all. I didn't want to know what the rumor was that was going around. I eat so much I wanted to throw up because my stomach had shrunken and I just kept on eating. I finally stopped and sighed. We still had to go to classes and I hated going to classes. Especially potions, the Professor absolutely hated me and I had no idea why. Although I noticed that he hated Lily too, so maybe he just hated girls. I became Remus' partner and we got top marks because our potion was flawless. Remus had a lot of trouble with this potion but I helped him a lot. He was good at every other subject except potions.

"So, which Prewett?" I asked looking at Fabian across the room. He was working on his potion with Dorcas Meadowes. To the right of him was his twin brother Gideon Prewett and his partner was Marlene McKinnon. I knew Marlene, she was in my dorm room, and she was a very shy girl. I knew that Dorcas was in Ravenclaw with Fabian and Gideon. Remus smiled and shook his head.

"Gideon… Fabian is going out with Marlene McKinnon." He said. I nodded. I'll ask Gideon after class if he would like to go to the ball with me. I smiled a sweet smile when I saw Gideon look up and we locked eyes. I glanced away and I started to talk to Remus.

"Ok, class is dismissed. See you next week." He said and I was gathering my things when Gideon approached me. I didn't expect it but I was welcoming it.

"Hi, Ashleigh right?" He said.

"Yeah." I said.

"Are you going to the ball?" He asked me.

"Yeah. Are you?" I asked him.

"I have to find a date." He said.

"So do I." I stated smiling. He smiled back at me. He was pretty cute, he was a chaser on the Ravenclaw team but I couldn't remember if he went out for the school team or not. He had Honey brown eyes and dark brown hair. It suited his body well too.

"Would you like to go with me. Be my date?" He asked.

"I'd love to." I said. And we walked me to the table at lunch.

"Bye." We said together and then we laughed and waved. He went to his table and sat next to his brother and I sat next to mine.

"Hey are you going to the ball? Have you asked anyone?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I have. I asked Emmeline Vance. She is pretty and nice." He said.

"Oooo, you got a girlfriend." I said teasing him. He gave me a sharp look and I stopped.

"So I take it that you're going with Sirius?" He asked.

"Nope, Gideon Prewett." I said saying his name slowly.

"What about Prewett?" Sirius asked taking a seat joining the group.

"Ashleigh is going to the ball with him." Lily said giggling.

"Really? Are you up for the ball? I mean do you think that you are feeling up to it?" Sirius asked.

"I feel great. Stop worrying so much." I said getting back to my meal. Even though part was me was still sad that an innocent baby got killed I had to brush that away. I couldn't let that ruin everything right now. I was still mad at Drew but we were on speaking terms now. Maybe he was right for not letting me talk to our grandmother, maybe she was a horrible person. I didn't want to obsess over that either. In 2 days we would all be going to Hogsmeade to get dresses and get ready for the ball that night. I was excited, not to mention that we had a game against a school in South America. I was ready and I was going to kick butt.

On Friday the coach didn't feel good putting me in the game but she did anyway, I was grateful that she did too. I wouldn't be able to stand it if she didn't let me play. We played and we played and we played. They were really good and we were sucking at the moment. I couldn't get the ball past their Keeper, James tried a few times but failed. So we tried something different. We threw the Quaffle at Sirius who hit it with a strong force toward the goal. And in it went. We finally scored and we had kept them from scoring the whole time. Thank God Drew was such a good keeper. Their seeker had caught the snitch and they won. It was the first game had lost all season. We all looked defeated and we were all in bad moods. I just wanted to go straight to bed but I didn't want to get up alone so I waited until Lily decided to come up but it took her forever. When we woke up in the morning I was still a little bit tired but I wanted to go get something to eat. Lily was already up and waiting. No one was in the common room, if we didn't hurry up we would be late for breakfast. We were rushing down the halls when we heard some laughter. I recognized Sirius and James' voice. We rounded the corner and the were levitating Snape into the air. Lily turned bright red.

"Put him down NOW JAMES!" She yelled, I was getting a little scared. I didn't know she had such a temper and I didn't ant to be anywhere near her when she got mad. But as a loyal friend I stood by her side.

"We were just having a bit of fun baby." He said not putting Snape down yet.

"A bit of FUN! I knew you hadn't grown up at all! You just the same James Potter that I have known all this time. What is wrong with you, quit bullying him!" She yelled. Sirius backed away a little. I was shooting glares at him for being such a pinhead and bullying others.

"Hey calm down, don't tell me what to do!" James said flicking his wand and Snape flew against the far wall hitting it hard. I ran over to him.

"Are you ok?" I asked trying to help him up. He pushed my hand away.

"I don't need your help." He hissed getting up and walking away.

"Don't touch him." Sirius said. I could barely hear him over James and Lily screaming at each other.

"Excuse me?" I said in a tone that told him to back off.

"Don't help him, he is a slimy little git who doesn't deserve help." He said getting mad.

"You mean like you. All I see is you and Potter being the assholes around here. Thinking you can pick on anyone." I said, I knew that part of me wasn't making any sense but I said it anyway.

"You don't know what you're talking about. If you really knew Snape you would understand." He said. I was about to come back with something when Lily grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

"Come on Ash, let's go. By the way Potter, ITS OVER!" She yelled that last part with such hate. I didn't even know what they had said to each other. I tried to keep up with Lily but she was taking such long strides, the only time I caught up with her was when she sat down with a huge thump at the table. Half the table shook and I just climbed in right after her. Remus shot me a glance that asked what was up but I couldn't answer. Lily was fuming, she looked like she could kill someone. Instead of killing someone she stabbed her egg over and over. Probably imagining it was Potter's head. I didn't want to bring up his name, I would wait until she calm down.

"I cant BELIVE him! Who does he think he is!" She said suddenly. Potter and Black finally showed up and sat at the opposite end of the table together. Remus looked torn until he finally decided to go to see what happened with Potter. Potter looked just as angry about their fight.

"Why did you get so upset? I thought Snape was the bad guy." I asked innocently but I knew in a second that I should have shut up.

"Because, they have been picking on Snape since 1st year and I am sick and tired of it. The poor guy is only made the bad guy because they decided to pick on him in the first place." She said. I just nodded in agreement. I didn't know what to think, I wasn't here from the beginning and I didn't want to make assumptions.

"Now I don't have anyone to go to the ball with." She said sighing.

"Don't worry, I'll stay with you. I didn't want to go anyway. We'll have a girls night." I said thinking of ways to cheer her up. I knew that deep down inside she really liked James.

"No, you already have a date." She said.

"Ok, I'll be right back." I said getting up and walking toward Gideon, he was talking about something with his brother and they seemed to be consumed in the conversation until they noticed me. I smiled sweetly and Gideon got up.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked him. He nodded and followed me to out of earshot.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Lily just broke up with James and I need to find her a date. The problem is that I don't know anyone who doesn't have a date. Do you?" I asked him. He smiled when I was pulling the puppy dog eyes on him. He knew what I was trying to do.

"Yeah I know someone, I have a mate in Hufflepuff. His name is Frank Longbottom. He doesn't have a date yet. I can talk to him for you if you like." He said.

"That would be great." I said and he went to the Hufflepuff table as I went back to Lily.

"What did you say to him?" She asked suspiciously.

"I asked him if he knew someone who didn't have a date, cause you are going to the ball." I said smiling and taking a bite of my bacon.

"I don't want to go." She said sighing. Sadness was overtaking her anger.

"You are going, because you want Ja… Potter to feel rotten. You want him to regret what he said, so you make him jealous. Oldest trick in the book. Men want what they can't have." I told her. She had this sparkle in her eye. She looked excited.

"Ok, I'll go but only because I want to make him feel rotten." She said.

"You know what would make him feel really rotten? You dancing or going with Snape." I said, I could just see their faces. And we both gave grossed out looks and then giggled.

Sirius' POV

I couldn't believe that they were defending an unbelievably slimy git like Snape. And now James was sulking because he had lost Lily. I knew that he loved Lily and he knew it but neither one of us would admit it because that just wasn't done.

"Don't worry mate, you'll find another girl and you can make Lily jealous, make her want you back and make her beg for it." He said. James just shook his head.

"I don't want to do that. I should just go and apologize…." James said trailing off.

"No! That's bullocks! She'll come around, don't worry. You keep your pride. Its all yu have, that and us." I said looking toward Remus and Peter who were shaking their head yes. James glanced up and went back to pushing his food around on his plate. I hoped he would snap out of this soon, then we could prank Evans and Hewitt. But then of course if I pranked Hewitt then her brother would be after my ass. And I don't think that James will want to prank Evans. So maybe I'll just insult them and act cold toward them. Poor Remus, he's going to be stuck in the middle since he's friends with both of them. He's just going to have to choose us.

"Look at her, she thinks shes so cool, oooo, she gets to go out with Gideon Prewett." I said watching her talking to Gideon.

"Sounds like someone is jealous." Remus said. I gave him a death glare. He was supposed to be on my side.

"I'm not jealous." I said through gritted teeth. The truth was that iw as jealous, but I wasn't going to admit it. She has been acting weird ever since before winter break. We have been fighting a lot lately and it hasn't been pleasant. What was her problem, and why would she defend Snape!

"I saw how you guys acted in the beginning, I know that you actually like that one." Remus said.

"No! She is just too moody for me." He said.

"Perfect match, cause your really moody..." Remus said. I got up and left him sitting there in mid sentence. I got up and left the Great Hall.


	17. Chapter 17

"Oh God, Ash, that looks breathtaking on you. You have to get that." Lily said in the dress shop. I looked at it dubiously, I wasn't sure at all. It was a midnight blue dress that went down to my knees and it was a spaghetti strap, I think it showed too much skin and a bit too much cleavage.

"I don't know, I think it shows too much skin." I said looking at my vulnerable back.

"Nonsense, its perfect. Sirius will be drooling all over you." Lily said laughing.

"I don't want Sirius to be drooling all over me." I said, but I really did. I liked Sirius way too much and I didn't want to show it because he wasn't interested. And if he was we were too busy fighting lately. Which was mostly my fault since I have been crabby and moody.

"Well, everyone will be drooling over you." She said matter of factly.

"I don't want ANYONE drooling all over me. No drooling." I said making a grossed out face. Lily picked another dress and I tried it on. It looked worse than the other one. At least I thought so.

"Oh my god, that's the one right there!" Lily squealed. I sighed, this was not working, she wanted me to look hot and I wanted to be conservative in my dress choice. This dress was light blue and it definitely showed off my figure. It had small white diamonds scattered around and it was a spaghetti strap also but the back of the dress slinked way down to show the small of my back.

"I definitely don't want to wear this. I prefer the other one." I said cringing as I looked at my back in the mirror. Any other time I would have bought this dress but now I wasn't so sure.

"Ash, it brings out your eyes. And your figure." Lily pointed out. I looked in the mirror, my eyes had turned a deep blue, and they reminded me of Sirius' eyes. That was what first attracted me to him, his eyes.

"I don't want anyone to see my figure." I said stubbornly.

"Ash, I know you like Sirius, no matter how much you deny it and I know that you want him to be jealous somewhere inside of you. So make him jealous." Lily said with an evil look in her eye. I was a bad influence on her. It couldn't hurt to wear the dress, I was only going to wear it one night and its not like Drew wont be there in case somebody tried something. Lily kept staring at me as I looked one more time at the small of my back. Would Gideon touch my bareback? I hoped not but when you waltz that's what you do.

"Ok." I sighed going back into the dressing room taking the dress off. I had looked incredible in it. We decided to pick out a fiery green one to match Lily's eyes and it was looking great on her. It was nice and flowy and when she had her hair down she looked amazing. We bought our dresses and headed back to the castle. I wanted to make sure we looked good. Lily did my make up and I did hers. I put a tiny bit of green eye shadow at the opposite ends of her eyes that made her eyes stand out even more. I was happy that I was going to a dance, this would be my first dance in the school and I was a tad bit scared. I had never really traditionally waltzed.

"So is Gideon going to meet you outside the great hall?" Lily asked.

"No, he said he wanted to escort me to the great hall so he is going to wait outside the common room." I said. Marlene looked up from doing her make up.

"You'll love Gideon, he is such a gentleman. Honestly. He is just like his brother, they should be in Gryffindor but they aren't because they are too smart for their own good." Marlene said sulkily.

"How long have you been going out with Fabian?" I asked her.

"It's going on a year. I love him. He's such a great guy and their family is so awesome." Marlene said, she looked like she was dreaming. I smiled, I was glad that Gideon wasn't an asshole like someone I once knew. Time had gone by so quickly that I didn't notice that we were supposed to meet the guys in a minute. We gracefully walked down the steps to the common room and not many people were in there. Peter was there, he didn't have a date so when he saw us he gasped. I smiled and left the common room through the portrait hole. I was hoping that Sirius would see me but I guess he probably had to pick up someone else at a different house. Gideon was looking great and when he saw me his mouth dropped.

"Stop drooling." I said smiling a flashy smile. I couldn't help but feel sexy in this outfit. What was I getting myself into? I thought. Gideon held out his arm and I took it giggling because I was a little nervous. Frank Longbottom was looking good too and I knew that Lily noticed. She was blushing the same shade as her hair when he told he that he thought she was beautiful. He was a 7th year, I remembered that he was this year Head boy. They walked us to the Great Hall, it was bewitched to have sparking stars above us.

"Wish upon a star." Gideon whispered in my ear. He was a sweet talker.

"You're smooth." I said laughing. He looked like he had been insulted.

"What kind of wish is that? Come close your eyes and wish. I'll do it with you…. Oh come on, where is your sense of fun?" He said. I was laughing but I finally closed my eyes and wished. I wish I could put everything behind me and be my old self, completely.

"See was that so hard?" He asked bringing me to a table where his brother and Lily were. I hoped that once Drew came in he would sit at this table too. They had a live band and I recognized them as the band that I saw in concert.

"Oh my god, I saw them in concert!" I said a little too loudly.

"That's my cousins band." Emmeline Vance said coming up behind us. She looked beautiful and Drew looked really good. I was glad that he had a date. He needed one.

"I love them." Drew and I said in unison and then we laughed.

"We do the same thing." Gideon and Fabian said in unison and we all laughed at that. The band started playing our favorite song, it had this kind of Caribbean ring to it.

"Oh my god, we have to dance to this one." I said pulling Gideon out of his chair. He was a little reluctant at first but I got him out of his chair. We got on the dance floor, the first ones and we started to dance. Something weird happened and I did feel like my old self. I totally loosened up and I started to sway with the Caribbean flow. I raised my both of my hands above my head and he placed his hands on my waist a little hesitantly and we got into the music. I saw Lily come out and she was giving me a surprised look and then she followed my example. She wasn't loose enough so I broke off with Gideon and went over to her, he followed me. I helped her loosen up and she looked incredible dancing like that. Drew and Emma joined in and all six of us were dancing the same way laughing and having a ball until the song ended. Then another came on and it was a slow one so I had to dance to that one. As I predicted, Gideon put on hand on the small of my back and I didn't mind at all. It felt nice and warm there. I saw Sirius dancing with a 4th year and I rolled my eyes as his eyes looked like they about to come out of his head.

"That was… great." Gideon said once we had sat down. He left to get me something to drink. Emma was asked to dance by James and Drew and I were left alone at the table.

"You seem like your usual self." Drew said turning his attention away from Emma.

"Yeah, I just feel great. I don't know what it is. But I'm glad i'm feeling normal." I said. He nodded.

"You look great. I'm glad you feel normal too. Just be careful… I know, I know you can take care of yourself. I'm just telling you." He said adding that last part when I gave him a look. Gideon came back and he handed me some punch. He knew that I didn't like pumpkin juice. I drank a little before we danced some more. Then another slow song came on and Sirius came by.

"Care to switch partners?" He asked Gideon. Gideon looked at me to see if it was ok with me. I shrugged. He nodded and started dancing with Sirius date.

"You look nice tonight." He said after a while.

"Thanks." I said wondering if an insult was coming after that.

"Look, I know what I said before, everything was wrong. I'm sorry if I said anything that hurt you in anyway." Sirius said.

"Is this a trap?" I asked suspiciously. He laughed.

"No, its not." He said. And then he twirled me and I realized that he was an incredible dancer. When he twirled me my skirt went up a little but I didn't care, I was having fun. At the end of the song it started to get a little more upbeat and Sirius let go of my hand and he started to do a jig, which made me double over in laughter. The song ended and Gideon came back, I saw a hint of jealousy in his eyes and I felt a little guilty.

"Thank you for the lovely dance." Sirius said bowing and kissing my hand gracefully. I smiled and nodded. I didn't want to hurt Gideon's feelings so we went back to the table. Every now and then I would glance up and see him dancing with other and he would wink at me. I would look away whenever he did. The ball was over and Gideon was escorting me back to the common room.

"I had a great time. Thank you." I said giving him a small peck on the cheek. I went up to my dorm and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. Lily did the same.

"Do you think it worked?" She asked changing her shirt.

"Yeah, didn't you see him drooling all over you all night?" I asked.

"No, but I saw Frank drooling all over Potters' date." She said sadly.

"Babe, you were beautiful. And James is now thinking he is the stupidest person in the world." I told her.

"Well, I don't care what he thinks, its really going to be over between us. I can't take his immature ways anymore…. By the way, I saw you and Sirius dancing. Now there is some chemistry there." She said and I giggled. In the common room Sirius came over to Lily and me.

"Where's Potter?" Lily asked coldly.

"Why are you so concerned?" He asked her. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to bed. I don't care where Potter is as long as he isn't near me." She said stomping up the stairs. I gave a yikes look and so did Sirius.

"Why aren't you with the rest of your friends?" I asked him as I saw the portrait hole open and then close, I knew for a fact that his friends were under an invisibility cloak or an disillusionment charm.

"They're sleeping." He said.

"Liar." I said and he blushed. We were one of the only ones in the common room now.

"Seriously why aren't you with your friends?" I asked him again. He shrugged and sat down next to me. I felt his warm body next to mine and my body tingled. We sat there in silence for a while before I decided I wanted to go to bed. I walked up the stairs and I turned back around to see Sirius sneaking out of the common room. I had to follow him. I snuck out just after him. He was sneakily walking across the grounds toward the Whomping Willow. That was just suicide what was he doing. And then the branches stopped moving and he ran toward the trunk of the tree. After I saw him disappear I ran in after him, the tree started moving again and I narrowly missed getting hit when I jumped in a passageway that I noticed once I was close enough.

It was pitch black and I didn't have my wand, I carefully inched my way down the corridor. Fear was boiling up inside of me, what if I got stuck? Where did this lead anyway? Would Black really lead me to my death? I didn't want to think about death, I didn't want to die. I went forward slowly being careful where I was stepping, praying that I wouldn't fall down or trip. I would be too scared to get up. But I ventured forward anyway because there was no turning back. After what seemed like forever I saw a little light at the end of the tunnel. I rushed forward being able to see where I was going through the light. I stepped up into what looked like a run down house with boards on the windows. I looked to my left and I saw a couch that was torn to shreds and blood that was on the floor. I was stuck, I couldn't move.

"Grrrrr." I heard a growling and my heart started to beat a mile a minute. I looked to my right and I saw a werewolf standing there. I let out a loud scream and I ran for the closest door I could find. It led to a room and I closed the door behind me. My breathing was uneven and I was scared to death. I heard the door being banged on.

"Help!" I screamed again and I felt like I was going to die. Why did I have to let my curiosity get the best of me? I always do that, I'm going to die one of these days because of my curiosity. I huddled in the corner of the room waiting for someone, anyone. The door finally broke off its latch and I started to cry. I didn't want to die yet. I looked up for a split second and I saw the werewolf coming straight for me and then I heard a bark and I saw a big black shaggy dog jumping in front of me. I screamed again and a huge stag came in and pushed the werewolf back and out of the room. The dog ran to the door and then it changed into a person. The person pushed the door against the frame and whispered something while waving his wand.

"What are you doing here?" The person asked with his back to me, I recognized the voice immediately. And he sounded really angry.

"You…. You… I…. what?" But I couldn't say or finish a sentence. I was crying too hard, I was scare to death. Sirius', anger subsided and he came rushing over to me. He held me close to him as I cried on his shoulder. He kept rubbing my back and trying to soothe me. When I finally stopped crying he pulled back a little and wipe the tears off my face and then he kissed the top of my forehead.

"What were you doing following me?" He asked calmly.

"I was curious, I didn't know what you were doing." I said wiping all the wetness from my face. I just realized that I was freezing cold. I wasn't wearing a jacket and it was freezing outside. He saw me shiver and pulled off his sweater and put it over my head.

"You shouldn't have followed me." He said looking back at the door.

"I know that now… wait you were a dog… are you… are you an animagus?" I asked him.

"You can't tell anyone." He said holding me still.

"How do I get out of here?" I asked him.

"We'll have to wait until morning, I'm not going to take the chance of losing you." He said. I nodded. I didn't mind, I didn't want to face the werewolf no matter what. I got up shakily, and he followed me. We went to a bed that was nearby in the room, it was the only piece of furniture in the room that wasn't wrecked. I laid down and Sirius laid down beside me. I pulled his hand so it was around me, I felt safe.


	18. Chapter 18

I was really tired but I knew that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep, not with a werewolf in the same house as me.

"So that's Remus huh?" I asked.

"No, that's not Remus, he's no here on nights like this. That's a monster." Sirius said. Sirius was such a loyal and good friend.

"What changed your mind and made you dance with me?" I asked him. I felt him shift behind me uncomfortably.

"I guess it was that dress, you just looked so beautiful. I forgot all about our fight." Sirius said. I turned over and I lay down to where I was facing him. He pushed a stray piece of hair out of my face and I looked at his lips. They looked so inviting and soft. I looked away and towards a window. There was a space between two boards that let in enough light to bath us in.

"What's your family like?" I asked him, I had realized that I didn't know anything about his family or anything about him besides his Hogwarts life. I didn't know what his favorite color was or anything.

"They're horrible. I hate my family and they hate me." He said. I sensed that he didn't want to talk about it anymore so I didn't push that topic. Instead we talked about a bunch of different things. I really got to know him and that wiped out anything I was holding against him. He told me how Snape had started the fight between them and how his parents were furious that he ended up in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin. I saw that he got some sick satisfaction when he makes his parents mad.

"So you hate your brother?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I hate him a lot. He just thinks he's so perfect. He does whatever mommy or daddy tells him to do! I swear I think he will end up being a death eater." He said. I winced when I heard of the death eater, I hadn't thought about my parents and the death eaters since we talked to Dumbledore. I haven't allowed myself to think about it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up." Sirius said looking down.

"I think this is the longest I have ever talked to a guy with out making out with them. Well besides family." I said laughing.

"We can make out." Sirius said winking.

"No." I said laughing. I wanted to but it didn't feel right at the moment.

"So what's the deal with Peter?" I asked Sirius, I had been wondering about his place in all this since I first met them all.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, you, James and Remus are all attractive, talented and completely brave and outgoing. He's totally the opposite and yet you guys let him hang out with you." I said. Sirius gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, well all of us have been together since 1st year. And we have just stuck together since." He said. I nodded; I understood the loyalty between them all. I was a bit jealous that I didn't have that with anyone except Drew. The night flew by us; he held me and we just talked all night. We just asked each other random questions.

"Have you had sex before?" I asked him. He thought about that for a second before answering.

"You really want to know?" He asked.

"Yeah, trufully, I wont get mad." I said laughing at his expression.

"Yeah, I've had sex before. Have you?" He asked me. He knew about Alfie, so it was kind of obvious that I did have sex, if you call rape sex.

"Yeah I have." I said.

"With who?" He asked.

"Everyone I have gone out with." I said. His eyes got big.

"I'm just kidding. John. That guy at my old school." I said. His eyes went back into his head and he shook it laughing.

"Oh, I've only had sex once. It was the biggest mistake ever." He said.

"Who was it with?" I asked him. I was praying that it wasn't Amber but I had a sinking feeling that it was.

"Amber." He said with a sour look on his face.

"I thought so. The only way a girl can be that clingy was if you had sex." I said.

"You didn't seem clingy to John."

"No, I wasn't. After we had sex we drifted apart because neither one of us was ready to admit that we had fallen for each other. We were both player at the school." I said. We continued to talk, bond and laugh throughout the night and we didn't realize that it was morning.

"Oh my god, how are we going to get back into the school without getting detected?" I asked in sudden panic. He laughed at my sudden panic.

"Don't worry, James is supposed to get us once Remus is back to normal so we can use the invisibility cloak." Sirius said and then there was a knock on the door followed by James poking his head in the room.

"Got your clothes on right?" James said snickering.

"Knock it off Prongs." Sirius said pulling me toward him. I glanced out there and Remus was asleep on the beat up couch.

"Is he ok?" I asked rushing over to him.

"Yeah, he'll just sleep for a while." Sirius said. I nodded and Sirius pulled me away from him and under the invisibility cloak. I had never been under an invisibility cloak before and it was rather cramped with James, Sirius, Peter and myself under it. Walking up ward toward the bottom of the trunk and Peter turned into a rat. I screamed and jumped into Sirius' arms, I hated rats.

"What's wrong?" He asked me.

"I… I…. I hate rats!" I squealed. My legs were wrapped around his waist and I wasn't going to move them back onto the floor until Peter turned back.

"Its just Peter." He said laughing.

"I don't care, I hate rats!" I said again. I refused to get off of him so he just carried me all the way up to the school. Peter was still a rat because there wasn't much room under the cloak but when he started to get chased by Mrs. Norris he ran and changed under the cloak. There wasn't a lot of room so I turned into Malfoy and I got out from under the cloak. They rushed off and filch caught me.

"What are you doing out of bed so early boy?" Filch asked me.

"I uh, guess I was sleep walking." I said.

"Don't give me that! A weeks worth of detention for being out of bed and for lying, now get back to your common room." Filch growled. I scurried past him and broke out in a run to Gryffindor. When I was almost there a hand grabbed my arm and another hand went over my mouth. I couldn't scream so I bit down really hard on the hand. I heard a yell and some swear words as I kept running. I changed back into my normal self and hurriedly said the password and pushed my way through. I didn't have to admit to myself that I was scared; I knew that I was scared. I never saw the hand that reached out to grab me. Who could it have been?

The door to the portrait hole burst open and I heard a bunch of swear words. Followed by the sight of Sirius holding his hand.

"What the bloody hell did you bite me for?" He asked his eyes were full of anger.

"Why the fuck did you grab me? Scaring the crap out of me. I thought you were…. I thought that maybe….God, why would you scare me like that?" I yelled right back at him. I was furious that he would do something like that to me. His anger quickly disappeared when he saw how serious and scared I was. He motioned for the other two to head upstairs. They did and Sirius came up to me, he was close, very close.

"I'm sorry, I never should have grabbed you like that. Forgive me?" He said giving me the puppy dog eyes. I suppressed a laugh.

"Its not that simple." I said pretending to be angry. He saw right through it and he started to tickle me.

"Ok! OK! I FORGIVE YOU!" I shrieked trying to get away from him. I hated it when people tickled me but I also loved it. He stopped tickling me and he was on top of me, his hands resting on my stomach. I looked at his lips and he looked at mine. I swallowed and it felt like the sound echoed through the whole common room. He slowly bent down, closer and closer to my face. He kept pausing to make sure it was all right. I finally just grabbed him by the neck and gave him a small kiss. I was so embarrassed so I slid out from under him and ran up to my room.

Sirius' POV

I had kissed her, I have wanted to kiss her for the longest time but I was always afraid that I would hurt her. It looked as if I had hurt her; she looked like she was going to cry. I am such a stupid git! What is wrong with me, why did I insist on satisfying my own needs and wants but I completely ignored Ashleigh's wants. I sighed and headed up to the dorm. James was still awake but Peter was sound asleep.

"How did it go Padfoot?" James asked. I sat across from him on his bed.

"I kissed her." I whispered to him. His eyes got big.

"And she let you kiss her?" James said a little to loudly. I punched him hoping he would take the hint. I didn't want Drew to hear me. No telling what he would do if he found out.

"Yeah, she did but then she left and ran to her room." I said

"Looks like you're a bad kisser Padfoot." James said laughing quietly. I hit him again.

"I didn't mean to hurt her, I just… there was just…. Something pulled me toward her. I can't explain it." I said shaking my head. It felt like a force was pulling us together. I felt like that with her when we used to sneak around. It was weird; it wasn't like anything I had experienced. I really liked her. She probably hates me right now too.

"Just get some sleep mate. You need some." James said slapping me on the back.


	19. Chapter 19

I was avoiding Sirius, and he was avoiding me too. I don't know why I was so embarrassed; I had kissed many guys before. And I had made the first move so many times before, why was this any different? We had something and I didn't know what it was. It felt like a force was bringing us together and I had never experienced that with any of the guys I had been with, not even John.

"Uh Hello, Ash, Earth to Ashleigh." I heard Drew say, he was waving his hand in front of my face. I got out of my thoughts and started to pay attention. We were in Charms class and I had already finished my assignment. Drew was trying to do his but he was failing miserably.

"Would you help me please?" He asked me, he sounded annoyed. In fact for the last couple of days he has been acting annoyed and grumpy. I never even thought about what was up with him. I was so horrible, all this time I have been thinking about Sirius and myself while Drew probably wanted to talk.

"No, kind of like this." I said showing him the move of the wand. We had spent hours and hours in the room of requirement practicing our Wicca powers. We were getting pretty good. Dumbledore had given us some separate homework and some things to do. He also supplied the room of requirement to us. Drew was trying again and he still didn't get it. Now I was getting frustrated but I couldn't just not help him.

"Wait, make sure you are saying it right." I said. He said it again and it was right. He tried a few more times and he finally got it. Just in time too cause class ended.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him as we left the room; Lily had to stay behind to talk to the Professor.

"Why would you ask that?" He said.

"Because you seem so annoyed. I feel bad that I didn't notice it earlier." I said.

"Its only a week until we have to take the O.W.L.s and I am a little nervous about that. Not to mention that Emma isn't speaking to me and you seem to be off in your own little world and the Quidditch finals are coming up and we have to play Holt again." He said venting.

"Why wont she speak to you?" I asked him.

"Because I told her about Micah. She asked." He said adding that last part in response to my facial expression. Why would he say something about Micah to his new girlfriend? That was relationship suicide.

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"I just told her what she wanted to know. I told her that we were playing her in the finals and that we used to go out. She asked if we were ever serious and I told her yeah. She was the first serious girl I had. I guess she didn't like that. That's why I am so stressed about playing them in the finals, I really like Em and I don't want this to end over a past relationship." Drew said. I didn't really know what to say to him. I knew that him and Micah were really close and they had loved each other. Could he forget her like that and just turn to Emma and if he could would she trust him knowing that he used to have a love. Maybe she didn't feel good being the second one that he really liked.

"I guess you just need to talk to her. You said you really like her, then tell her that." I told him. He nodded looking at the ground the whole time.

"But only tell her if you are really over Micah. You can't love two at once." I told him.

"I like Emma," He said before leaving to join her at the Ravenclaw table. I was glad that I could help him with his love life. Now it was on to Lily. She was miserable now that she had experienced the good side of Potter only to be disappointed by him immature side. She still liked him a lot but refused to admit it. Maybe it would be best if I just left it all alone. I should really be TRYING not to avoid Sirius. But he was making it so easy; he wouldn't even look at me anymore. I know i'm not a bad kisser. He was probably just sick of waiting and when he finally got it I ran. Remus wouldn't look at me either, I felt bad.

"Hey." Lily said sitting next to me. In my opinion she looked horrible, miserable.

"Hey. Are you ok?" I asked. I hated it when people asked me that constantly but I couldn't help it, she needed to vent,

"Stop asking me that or I wont be ok." Lily said shoveling food onto her plate.

"Ok, I wont… I promise." I said after she gave a look. Gideon and I had had a few one again off again dates since the ball. Nothing too big. I looked toward the Ravenclaw table and I saw Gideon laughing at something his brother had mentioned. Why couldn't I be attracted to Gideon? Damn Sirius and his irresistible charm. Gideon was so attractive and yet he couldn't captivate my attention like Sirius could.

"So, is Sirius still avoiding you?" Lily asked. I had told her about that morning, but not that night. How could I tell her that Sirius saved my life without revealing that he was an animagus, not to mention James was one too. I wanted to tell her to so bad; after all she was my best friend. But I made a promise to Sirius and I couldn't break a promise.

"Yeah." I said sulkily. I wanted him to come to me first but it didn't look like that was going to happen.

"Maybe you should talk to him." Lily suggested.

"Well, I will, right now I want to talk to Remus." I said. She understood and let me go. She wasn't going to follow me because she didn't want to be anywhere near James. They were leaving the Great Hall and I had to run to catch up to them.

"Remus!" I yelled and he turned around. When he saw me his gaze went straight to the floor.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked, the only one who would look at me was James; even Peter wasn't looking my way. Remus shrugged and we walked outside. We were walking in silence most of the time; I hated silence. Especially this awkward silence.

"Ash, I'm sorry." He whispered I looked at him and it looked like he had tears in his eyes.

"Sorry for what? It wasn't your fault, I followed Sirius. You didn't make me." I said.

"But I could have killed you. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I did." He said. He seemed much more quieter than before. I stopped him and forced him to look at me.

"You wouldn't have killed me. I trust you with my life Remus; you are one of the greatest guys in the world. And I am so sorry that followed Sirius down there because you're obviously in pain over it." I said.

"You don't think differently of me?" He asked.

"Differently? Why would I, you're still the same Remus that I have known this past year. And nothing you do will ever change what I think about you." I said. I had meant it too. Remus wasn't a monster; he was a great guy who had to suffer once a month because of a stupid curse.

"Thank you. But I don't think anyone else would understand. Can you keep it to yourself?" He asked me.

"Of course I will." I said. I felt bad that Lily and Drew knew too but Remus was totally oblivious to their knowledge. He smiled and I gave him a hug.

"Well, I have to go study, you know with the O.W.L.s so close and all." Remus said walking back to the castle. I was glad that I could make him a little bit happy. I turned toward the lake and I sat down at the edge.

"Thank you." I heard Sirius' voice say from behind me. I didn't turn around at all.

"So now you're talking to me huh?" I said trailing my fingers in the water.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Please, ever since that morning you have been avoiding me. For three months." I said. He finally sat down next to me and I heard him sigh.

"I guess I have. I just…. I thought that maybe I had hurt you or something."

"Hurt me?"

"Yeah, I mean you ran off after. I know i'm not that bad of a kisser. I told myself to wait over and over again. I knew you weren't ready to kiss anyone. I hate myself for pushing me onto you." He said and I saw that he was being sincere. He was hurting inside because I felt embarrassed.

"You didn't hurt me, I wanted you to kiss me. But you took so long that I kissed you and I got extremely embarrassed and then you didn't talk to me and I thought that maybe you didn't like the fact that I had kissed you." I said hoping he would get what I was trying to say.

"So…. You WANTED to kiss me?" He said. I laughed at his sudden perkiness. He was too adorable and I could feel myself like him even more.

"Yeah I did." I said. There was some silence between us and I wanted to kiss him again. I wanted to feel those soft lips on mine. So I leaned forward and I caught him by surprise kissing him again. And this time he welcomed it and kissed me back. The butterflies in my stomach were zooming around and I pulled back. I tried to hide my uneven breath. Every time we kissed I was always left breathless.

"Wow…" He said

"Yeah." I said giggling. He laughed at me. We sat there not looking at each other for a while. I could feel his eyes on me when he would look at me. And then I felt his hand on mine. It felt so warm and right. I pulled my hand away and got up.

"I have to go and study. I need to get excellent on all my O.W.L.s." I said leaving him. He followed me to the castle.

"I know you will blow everyone out of the water, especially in Charms." He said winking at me and running off. I spent all week studying and restudying that I was burnt out. Lily had me going all night and day; I barely had enough time to eat. And if we did get to eat it was with our faces in a book. I finally got so tired of studying that I slammed my book shut. I saw Lily jump a little.

"Argh! I am sick and tired of studying. I think I will explode if I read another sentence." I said Lily finally put her book down and looked at me with an annoyed expression.

"Our first O.W.L is the day after tomorrow. Don't you think right now is the best time to study?" She asked lifting the book again. I pulled the book out of her hands.

"No! I think right now we should have some fun or at least relax." I said keeping the book out of her reach. She kept trying to get it but I wouldn't let her.

"Potter! Catch!" I yelled throwing the book his way. He turned and caught in time before it his him in the face. Lily ran toward him determined to get her book back but he wouldn't let her have easily.

"Give it to me." She said through clenched teeth.

"Make me." Potter said and I knew that I shouldn't have thrown it to him. But I was afraid that Remus couldn't catch and Sirius might just hit it across the room again thing it was a bludger. I saw Lily relax a bit and I was happy until she walked up to him and got real close. You could see his Adams apple quiver as he gulped. She was really close to him and she reached up to get it but he still held it out of reach. She kneed him in the groin and I saw him double over in pain. She grabbed her book and walked away from him, she passed me and she glared. Oh god, why did I do that? Sirius, Remus and Peter were all laughing. I ran after Lily getting ready to apologize.

"Lily, I'm sorry. He was the only one I saw who I knew WOULD catch it and not get hurt." I said outside the door. She had locked it and I couldn't open it at all. Man she was a powerful witch.

"Lils, please… I'm sorry. I never should have done that. Come on Lil, you're my best friend, i'm sorry I hurt you." I said again talking to the door. I heard some shuffling of the feet and the click of a lock. I opened the door and peeked my head in.

"I'm sorry Lily, I am a stupid moron." I said. She was sitting on her bed and I could barely see her face. When I came around I saw tears going down her cheeks.

"Oh god, Lily. I am so sorry. I didn't mean… don't cry hon." I said hugging her. She cried into my shirt and I just sat there holding her. I didn't mean to make her cry; I didn't mean to do anything. I was such a horrible best friend. I should have known better than to bring Potter into this.

"Its not your fault. Its Potter's…. and mine." She said when she was done crying.

"What do you mean yours?" I asked her.

"I broke up with him, God why does he consume my thoughts. Its not as if I love him or anything. I mean most of the time I think he is a stupid git. But I can't get my mind off of him. Do you know how many times I think about him in the day? All the time, I can't concentrate on anything anymore." Lily said wiping all her tears off.

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked. She looked up at me as if she didn't know what I was talking about.

"You can ignore your feelings or you can talk to him about it. Work something out." I told her. She sat there for a while working what is aid out in her head.

"I think I'll talk to him about this whole thing." She said.

"Great. Now?" I asked getting up.

"No, not now. I'll wait until after the O.W.L.s," She said getting back to her book. I laughed and shook my head. She was such a worrywart about her grades.


	20. Chapter 20

The last game of the season, and I was excited. The whole team had come and I had told Micah that Drew had gotten a girlfriend so she didn't hang on him or anything. We played against them, it was us against them and the winner would be this year's champion. I was pumped and so was the rest of the team. We played long and hard. The game lasted 4 hours. We had scored enough goals to cover the loss when Jose caught the snitch. We had won by 5 points. We became the new Champions of the year.

"Yeah baby!" Sirius yelled when we had found out that we won. Jose had made the simple mistake of catching the snitch when I had made a goal to put us up 5 points. Sirius picked me up and twirled me around when I cheered with everyone else. I was jumping up on everyone, giving everyone a kiss or a hug. We were al so excited that we forgot that the first O.W.L was tomorrow. We partied all night long until Lily came back down exclaiming that tomorrow was a big day. I was so relived that we had won and we didn't have to worry about Quidditch any more but I was also stressed over the O.W.L tomorrow. It was on Potions.

All of the O.W.Ls were very hard, I know I excelled on Charms, did horrible on Potions and did decent on DADA. At least I hoped I had done decent. We only had one more O.W.L. left and it was Transfiguration. I was great at Transfiguration so I wasn't worried at all. Lily wanted to relax by the lake with her Transfiguration book do I went with her. Drew was off with Emma; he was going to surprise her with a nice date in the room of requirement. They had been getting close ever since he decided to choose her over Micah. I was happy for him because he actually started to relax a little more and we was getting back to his old self.

Lily was sitting at the lake with her feet in the water looking over some notes for Transfiguration. I was staring off into the distance until I heard a bunch of laughter coming from where the Maurders were.

"Oh my god, I can't believe them!" Lily shouted running over to see whom they were picking on. I followed; this was just going to be more and more drama. We got close enough to see Snape sitting in the middle of a circle of people with pink bubbles coming out of his mouth.

"That's enough!" Lily shouted bringing fear into half of the students, they scattered knowing better than to stick around.

"Alright right, Evans?" James asked she gave him a dirty look and pointed her wand at him. His eyes lit up at the sight of her.

"Leave him alone! You self absorbed little git!" Lily shouted at him. He looked hurt for a second but he dashed that away.

"I will… if you go out with me. Come on, go out with me and I promise that I will leave him alone." James said. She looked disgusted with him. I was sure that what we had talked about earlier in the week was soon gone out of her mind. She did not look happy at all. There was no way she would talk to him about anything nicely.

"I wouldn't go out with you if I had to decide between you or the giant squid." She spat at him hatefully. All of a sudden there was a loud crack and James staggered and I saw blood coming from his temple. Lily looked worried for a second until she saw James turn and hex Snape to hang upside down. I had to see his icky graying underwear and I thought I might have been sick.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" Lily bellowed and I made a mental note never to piss her off. She aimed her wand at James and Sirius, they eyed it warily. They both knew that she was a powerful witch and she wouldn't hesitate to hex them when she was this mad. James sighed and put Snape back on the ground.

"I don't need any help from a mudblood like you." Snape said Lily turned her gaze to him and gave him a death glare.

"Fine, I wont help you next time. And you really should get your pants cleaned Sniviellious." She said.

"Don't you dare call her that!" James said raising his wand getting ready to hex.

"I don't need you sticking up for me Potter, you're just as bad as him." Lily said.

"Me? I would never call you a… a… you know what!" James shouted at her. She gave him one last glare and stalked off. I chased after her.

"Stupid Potter, how dare he? God, do you see why I hate him so much. Stupid idiot. I'm glad I only have to deal with his crap for another day and then I get a whole summer away from HIM!" She said looking back at him. He was picking on Snape again but she didn't care anymore. I didn't know whether I should say something or not, so I kept quiet.

When Transfiguration came along Lily was still fuming and it was affecting her skills. I felt bad for her, she liked him so much and yet they got into stupid little fights. He should really just learn to grow up. I got an outstanding on my transfiguration, I knew I did because I knew everything on the test and I turned my pincushion into a kitten that was purring and everything. Everyone was more relaxed and more at ease now that O.W.L.s were over. I was happy that I didn't have to deal with Lily's stress. She had to get perfect scores in everything no matter what, like she had to be perfect. We only had a day and then we would be boarding the train to get home for summer holidays. Oh Joy, I get to go home to a huge house with no one but myself, Drew and grandfather in it.

"I'm going to miss you, make sure that you write." I told her while I was hugging her outside of the Hogwarts express. We had just arrived at King's Cross and I didn't want to leave.

"Of course, and we have to visit each other all the time." She said.

"Duh!" I said laughing and then I watched her walk away to her mom and dad and a rather sour looking girl standing next to them. Did Lily have a sister? I never asked. I looked around for Drew, he was standing next to Emma and they were saying their good byes, I wasn't going to interrupt him. We had time to get home; we had to take a cab anyway.

"I guess this is goodbye." Sirius said from behind me. I smiled and turned to face him.

"Not good bye, more like, I'll see you soon." I said trying not to make it sound depressing.

"Ok, I guess this is 'I'll see you later,' we should write to each other." He said shrugging at that last part.

"Sirius! Get over here!" I heard a loud shriek. He closed his eyes and cringed.

"Your mom?" I asked him and he nodded sourly. I caught a look at her and she looked horrible. Very scary. I felt sorry for him that he had to deal with that everyday.

"I'll write you." He said giving me a small hug before leaving.

"How dare you touch a mudblood like her." I heard her shriek. Mudblood? I wasn't a mudblood I was a pureblood. How dare she say such a foul word as that?

"Hey, ready to go?" Drew asked finally reaching me.

"Yeah, lets get out of here and head to that awful home." I said sourly. I hated it there, it was way too big for just three people and there were so many rooms and secret passageways. We flagged down a cab and told the driver the location. We arrived there just thirty minutes later and we slowly walked up the walk to the door. Before we even got to the door it swung open and a big lady with a bright green dress on and a peacock hat came rushing at us. Both Drew and I pulled out our wands and got ready to aim. She stopped and looked hurt.

"Put those away. You wouldn't hurt you own aunt now would you?" She said giving us both a bone-crushing hug. I looked to Drew with a horrid look on my face and he had the same.

"Excuse me?" I said in a rather rude tone. She gave me a look that said watch it.

"I'm your aunt. Aunt Rose, your grandfather's sister. Anyway…" She said dismissing the looks on our face. She went on talking about how our Grandfather had left to take care of some business and that he would be back but until then she would take care of us.

"He's gone? Where did he go?" Drew asked suspiciously.

"He had to take care of some business and he wont be back for a couple of weeks at least." She said having our trunks brought in by a guy in black robes. He was obviously her servant. She told us to take a seat in the living room but we were very reluctant. How could we trust her, we had never even heard of her in our entire lives.

"How was your trip? Sorry that I couldn't pick you up from the station, I had to wrap up a few things here before you came. But don't worry about that. You guys are home for the summer, I'm sure you are excited to relax and do whatever it is you kids do in your free time." She said waving her wand. A teapot and teacups appeared and she poured us some tea.

"We don't drink tea." I stated lamely.

"Nonsense. You are English you must drink tea. Go on drink it." She said.

"We cant, we're allergic. Ever since we were babies. We can't have coffee or any caffeine either." Drew said looking at her dumbly. He probably couldn't believe this lady either. She shook her head disbelievingly and conjured up a water pitcher and some glasses.

"Anyway, I have decorated your rooms, they are right next to each other. I wasn't sure if you were used to have to sleep in the same room or not but there is so much room here that you need separate rooms. After all you are twins of the opposite sex." She said taking another sip of her tea.

"Of course we have had our own rooms." I said trying to get that anger out of my voice.

"Well, I wasn't sure if you were too poor to have to share a room." She said. Anger surged inside of me and I felt myself about to levitate. She was insulting my parents you don't insult my parents. I grabbed onto the arm of the chair and glanced at Drew with my jaw clenched. Drew stared me in the eye, telling me to calm down.

"May we be excused?" Drew asked politely.

"Of course you can Allen. I expect to see you guys down here promply at 6 for dinner. Is that understood Astrid?" She asked looking at me. I couldn't believe that she didn't even know our names. I nodded and rushed out of there with Drew. We walked up the steps to the second floor. This house was too big.

"She doesn't even know our names." I said to him.

"I know. I hope we don't have to stay with her long. I don't like her already." Drew said. We walked into my room first. I was struck dumb as I looked at all the frilly pink things around the room. There were ponies and stuffed animals all over the place.

"You have got to be kidding me." I said looking at my bed, it was a canopy bed, pink and white. Covered in teddy bears and other stuffed animals that I had no interest in. I ran out of the room because I hated it so much.

"That must be your room." I said laughing. He was laughing too because it was so ridiculous. No one was THAT girly. We catiously walked into his room. It was packed with G.I. Joe stuff and army things.

"What are we 5?" He asked looking at some legos that were in the corner.

"I don't know what she thought we were." I said looking at all the stuff around his room.

"I claim this one!" We said at the same time. Then we started to fight over the rooms. I lost and I slowly retreated back to my room. If I was going to live in that room then I was going to make it mine. I dumped all the stuffed animals into a bag and stuffed it into the closet. I took off the canopy and placed that in the closet too. What did she do with my old bedspread? I thought as I ventured out into the hall. She was downstairs, I could hear her talking to someone.

"Yes… they are upstairs… they seem like it to me. Innocent yeah… I know, tell him I'll talk to him soon. I want to spend more time with them." I was listening to this when I hand came over my mouth. I jumped but I didn't scream, it was Drew.

"Did you hear that?" I asked him pulling him up the next flight of stairs.

"Innocent my ass. We are bad ass right?" I said. We were on the third floor and I was looking in every room for my bedspread. We had found Drew's stashed into a broom closet and then we found mine stashed inside a trash can.

"Who do you think she was talking to?" I asked him after a while.

"I don't know. Maybe we will find out later." He said. It was close to 6 and we needed to be at dinner Promply at six. I said mocking her in my head. I quickly regained control over my room. I had replaced the bed with my bedspread and I took some of the clothes and stashed them in the drawers while I hung up my clothes that I choose to wear. Not something she choose for Astrid. I caught up with Drew half way down the stairs.

"In here!" We heard her call from the dining room. I took a seat to her right and Drew took one from her left. We sat there politely waiting for dinner. It finally came, roast beef and potatoes. I hated roast beef.

"So, did you guys like Hogwarts? I remember when I used to go there, I loved it so much. I still talk to all my friends…." And she continued on for 20 minutes about her schooling at Hogwarts and all her friends. I got so tired of hearing her voice that I lift my hand and froze her. She sat there motionless and thankfully quiet while I scraped my roast beef into my napkin.

"Ash, you cant do that!" Drew hissed from across the table.

"Why not?" I asked him taking a sip of my water.

"Because, you know better than to use that magic." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Unfreeze her." He said.

"If your so wound up about it do it yourself. I'm tired of hearing her voice." I said. He sighed and turned his hand a bit and she unfroze continuing exactly where she left off. I was glad when I was excused to leave the table. I wanted to explore outside but she said it was too dangerous. I rolled my eyes and went to my room. Drew joined me in there after a while and we sat there listening to music flipping through magazines.

"I'm sorry. I just don't want her to know or even be suspicious of those powers." He said. He was being sensible, I understood.

"I know, god, I don't like her at all. How about we take a trip to see the guys in the states. Just until Grandfather gets back." I said. He looked a tad uncomfortable.

"I cant." He said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm going with Emma's family to their beach house in France." Drew said.

"WHAT? You were going to leave me here alone, with her?" I asked him.

"I didn't know about her when I made the plans!" He said defensively.

"What am I going to do?" I asked. I was mad at him for not telling me sooner. What was I going to do? I didn't want to stay here with her all alone. Lily had to spend the first part of her vacation with her family in morocco. And I was sure that Aunt Rose wasn't going to let me go to the States alone. I would be forced to be here alone.

"It wont be that bad." He said after a while.

"Yes it will." I said in a foul mood.


	21. Chapter 21

It had been a day since Drew left for a week with Emma's family. I was already going out of my mind. I had nothing to do or no one to see. I finally got out of the house after pouting over having to stay here. I walked around the neighborhood and I saw a few houses that I recognized as wizard houses immediately. They had gnome holes in the front yard or they would have something totally non-muggle like in the front yard. Other houses were trying too hard to be muggle like. I finally reached the end of the street and I recognized the lady that had called Sirius that day at the Kings Cross. Did Sirius live in this neighborhood? I could hang out with him. I walked up to the front door and I knocked with the iron doorknocker in the shape of a snake. After a minute it opened to reveal his mom standing there looking at me expectantly.

"Um… hi… is Sirius here?" I asked feeling very small when she looked at me.

"Who wants to know?" She asked me angrily.

"Mom, I got it!" I heard Sirius say behind her. His eyes lit up when he saw me but he wiped that look out of his eyes when he saw his mother's angry look.

"Who is this?" She demanded to know.

"A girl from school, she a pureblood mum." He said rolling his eyes. Her anger was wiped away when the words pureblood came out of his mouth.

"Oh, well come in. Welcome to the house of Black." She said proudly. She was probably happy that her son was associating with purebloods. Sirius grabbed my hand and pulled me in.

"We're going to go up to my room mum!" He shouted running up the stairs with me right behind him. He quickly closed his door behind us.

"Sorry, I had to save you from her… what are you doing here? Are you stalking me?" He said smiling at me. I realized that I was wearing short shorts and a tank top. It was hot and I didn't expect to see anyone I knew. I looked around his room, he had clothes all over the place and his bed wasn't made. I looked at his walls and he had tons and tons of posters on his walls of Qudditch teams or players. And I saw the poster that my brother had loved so much, his autographed Eric Devlin poster.

"I actually live down the street in the Haven Manor… Hey where did you get that Devlin poster?" I said. He looked at me with interest.

"I guess we don't have to write now huh? I got the poster from your brother…speaking of which where's Drew?" He asked.

"Off in France with Emma and her family." I said bitterly.

"Someone's jealous." Sirius sang.

"I'm not jealous, I'm just mad that I have to stay home with a horror of an aunt and a huge house, board out of my mind." I said.

"Aunt? I thought you lived with your Grandfather." Sirius said confused.

"I did, he had to 'take care of some business,'" I said mocking her. God, how I hated her and she still hasn't even gotten my name right.

"Well, maybe we should run away together." He said smiling.

"Get real Black." I said laughing at him.

"I'm serious. I hate this place so much. I can't wait until I can leave." He said in a serious tone. I stopped laughing at him and I nodded knowingly. I wanted my own place too; I hated living in that huge house.

"Lets get out of here. Isn't there something around here that would be fun?" I asked him.

"A bunch of muggle things." He said sourly. I laughed at his face.

"Some things are fun, lets go and explore what's out there!" I said pulling him off his bed.

"I'm not really dressed to go out in public." He said I rolled my eyes and went to his crazy closet. Inside he had a pair of jean shorts and I t-shirt. I threw the two things at him. He grinned as he slid his pants off. I quickly turned my back so I wouldn't see anything. Why did I turn immediately and why didn't he warn me? I thought cursing myself for my mistake and his.

"Ok, ready." He said. I turned around slowly and he had the shirt around his waist covering his boxers and his pant on his head.

"Oh my god. Sirius I know you know how to get dressed. I know you probably failed muggle studies but come on!" I said rolling my eyes at him and shaking my head. He laughed and motioned for me to turn around. I few minutes later his clothes were on correctly. We carefully went down the stairs. He was ahead of me looking out for his mom. I felt something grab my butt. I shrieked and I turned to see a younger, not as attractive looking Sirius smirking at me.

"What the… Regulus, go away! I mean it. And get your filthy hands off her before I pound your head into the wall." Sirius said through gritted teeth. He made his way in front of me to protect myself.

"Watch Sirius, you don't want me to tell mommy and daddy that you are trying to hurt me. Or you'll get grounded and you wont be able to see that slut of a girlfriend of yours." Regulus said looking my way. Slut of a girlfriend? I wasn't a slut and I wasn't even his girlfriend. I lunged for him so I could pound his head into the wall but Sirius held me back.

"Ooh, feisty, feisty. You got yourself an active one. I wonder how she is in bed." He said licking his lips. I hit Sirius in the gut with my elbow and I lunged for his grabbing him by the neck. I started to hit him and then I moved my hand a little to forcefully and he went flying up the stairs. Luckily Sirius was doubled over in pain and I felt bad doing that to him. He pulled me back and held onto me regardless of his pain in the stomach. Regulus came back down the stairs looking stark raving mad. But I didn't care.

"I'll tell." He said getting ready to yell.

"Ah, ah ah…. Don't want to tell mommy and daddy that you were beat up by a girl. Now do you? Dad would love to hear that. Wah wah, some girl beat little 'ol me up." Sirius said making fun of Regulus. He narrowed his eyes at him and then to me.

"I'll get you. One way or another." He said limping back up the stairs.

"What on earth is going on here?" Mrs. Black asked coming out of the kitchen. Sirius quickly let me go.

"Sorry mum, we were just leaving." Sirius said trying to rush past her.

"Where?" She asked.

"Uh, we don't know. We were just going to explore." He said.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea…" She started but I interrupted her.

"Actually, we were going to go and make fun of the muggles in the nearest town. And then head back to my place to play some exploding snap." I said smiling. She looked at me and then she nodded.

"Very well." She said letting us leave. I suppressed a laugh when Sirius lifted me into the air and left the house with me above his head.

"STOP!" I said finally laughing. He put me down.

"Make fun of muggles huh?" He asked tickling my side.

"It was the only thing I could think of and I didn't want to go home or hang out by myself." I said heading toward the nearest town.

"I don't care as long as i'm out of there." He said. We walked and talked and laughed all the way to the town. They had a summer carnival going on and I bought us some tickets since he didn't even know what muggle money was, let alone have any.

"What's that?" He asked pointing to the Ferris wheel.

"That's the Ferris Wheel. You get in and it takes you all the way up and then you stop, see everything around you and you come back down." I said looking for another ride, I hated heights.

"Lets go on it." He said pulling me toward it.

"No, Sirius, i'm afraid of Heights." I whined.

"You're afraid of heights and you play Quidditch?" He asked me dubiously.

"Yeah, I'm in control of my broom but i'm not in control of that Ferris wheel." I said but he shook his head and pulled me toward it anyway. I gave the man the ticket and we got on it. Slowly we went up and saw the look on Sirius' face. He looked so excited; I couldn't ruin this for him by being sulky and scared. So I perked up and when we reached the top and we stopped we both looked all around us.

"Its beautiful huh?" I said looking in the direction of our houses; I could see both of them.

"Yeah it is." He said moving a little causing the thing to rock. I quickly grabbed a hold of his, very muscular; arm and he smirked at my reaction.

"Stop laughing, it's not funny." I said swatting him. That just made him laugh harder, which caused the thing to rock harder which caused me to dig my nails into him. He stopped laughing and pulled his arm away.

"God, you have a death grip." He said rubbing his arm and scowling.

"Don't rock the thing." I said and we continued to move back down. I was grateful to get off the ride as quick as possible. We walked around some more and I was surprised to see that they were serving corndogs.

"We have to get corndogs." I said running toward the stand.

"Corn dogs? Is that corn shaped like a dog?" He asked. I laughed at him.

"No, its good, trust me." I said buying two. I gave him one and he was about to bite into it but I squirted ketchup onto it.

"Gross, what is that?" He asked.

"Its good, just try it." I said taking a bite of my own corndog. He took a bite and then he smiled. He loved it.

"This is great." He said with his mouth full.

"Eww, close your mouth." I said sitting down to eat mine. We ate and laughed and joked and he ended up getting 4 more corndogs. I didn't mind, I got 2 more myself. After we ate something we went to play some games. Sirius tried a bunch of different games but there was only one that he excelled at. Baseball. He hit the ball with such force that it knocked all the balls down winning a long stuffed snake.

"Hell yeah! I am that good." He said when he had gotten the snake. I was laughing at him.

"Get over yourself." I said rolling my eyes. He put the snake around my shoulders.

"For you." He said. I blushed and looked at the ground. I liked the snake it was huge and it was almost as tall as me. We were having so much fun that I didn't realize that it was 5:45 and I had to be home before six.

"Oh my god! We have to go." I said and I started to run, pulling him behind me.

"Whoa, why? We were having so much fun!" He said chasing after me. We continued to run all the way to my house. When reached my house we fell on the grass, tumbling over each other gasping for air. Then we laughed because we were acting so weird. I looked at my watch, it was 5:59, and I had a minute.

"Thanks for walking…er I mean running me home." I said and we laughed again. 

"It was my pleasure." He said bringing me to the front door. Part of the snake was touching the ground and he pulled it up and situated it around my neck.

"Well, we'll hang out tomorrow?" I asked.

"Definitely." He said and then the door swung open. Rose was at the doorstep looking at both of us. She looked furious until she saw that there was a guest.

"Oh, hello." She said to him.

"Um…. Rose… er, I mean Aunt Rose, this is Sirius. He goes to Hogwarts with me." I said and they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you Sirius…." She said waiting for him to say his last name.

"Er… Black." He said. Her face lit up and she ushered us both in. She grabbed my snake and threw it in the living room on the floor. I went in there I picked it up.

"You must stay for dinner." She said to him. She was completely ignoring me now.

"I don't know, I might have to get home… my mom and everything." He said.

"Yeah, he probably has plans with his family." I said trying to save him.

"Oh, but you must. I'll have a nice chat with your mum. Don't worry. Astrid, why don't you go and show him your room while I talk to his mother." She said pushing us toward the stairs. Halfway up the stairs he looks at me and we laugh.

"Astrid? I thought your name was Ashleigh." He said.

"It is. And I kept telling her that but she still calls me Astrid." I said through gritted teeth. We walked into my room and I laid the snake on the bed. He sat on my bed bouncing up and down. I went to my closet and pulled out a shirt that I looked semi fancy, she believed in wearing something presentable for dinner.

"You look perfect. Why change?" He asked me.

"She will have a fit if I wear this to dinner." I said mooning for him to turn around. He did and changed shirts.

"So, you hate this place? I hate my place… lets just run away together." He said when he could turn around again.

"I only hate it cause she is here." I said pulling my hair up into a scrunchy.

"She does seem a little off." Sirius said playing with my make up. He picked up an eyelash curler.

"What's this?" He asked.

"An eyelash curler. Put it down." I said laughing as he was playing with it. I was about to leave the room when he grabbed my arm and twirled me around. We were awfully close and I didn't mind it one bit.

"Go out with me. Be my girlfriend." He said. He didn't ask, he told me.

"Whatever happened to asking a lady?" I asked innocently.

"Will you go out with me? Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked. I giggled and nodded.


	22. Chapter 22

"Sure." I said before the door opened to reveal Rose standing there expectantly.

"We have another guest for dinner." She said before leaving. She didn't even say anything about us being close enough that our noses could touch. He held onto my hand as we walked down the stairs. What would she say? I thought. I couldn't wait to see her reaction. We walked into the Dining room and Rose was sitting down in her usual chair. There was tall thin and pale man who looked scary sit across from her. I sat to her right as usual and Sirius took the only other available seat. I looked at the guy, He had black beady eyes and his fingers were really long. They reminded me of Dumbledore. I turned my attention to Sirius.

"Astrid, this is Tom, Tom this is Astrid and Sirius Black." She said introducing us all.

"Ashleigh." I stated.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"My name is Ashleigh. For the one millionth time, I am not Astrid, I am ASH-L-EIGH!" I said pronouncing it slowly so her small brain could comprehend. He looked mad for a second but she regained control of her composure and emotions once she glanced at this Tom guy.

"It's nice to meet you Ashleigh, as well as you Mr. Black." He said.

"Nice to meet you too." I couldn't look into his eyes. They were too scary. Sirius' leg touched mine and looked up. He gave me a reassuring look. Rose's servant brought out Shepard's pie and some assorted dishes as well. I placed some Shepard's pie on my plate and ate quietly. This was also the quietest that I have seen Rose since I met her.

"So, do you like Hogwarts?" Tom asked after we ate some more.

"Yes, very much so. Sirius is in the same house as me. We're good friends." I said directing the attention to Sirius.

"I hear you are an excellent Quidditch player." He said.

"I'm ok." I said taking another bite.

"You're so modest. Wasn't your dad a great Quidditch player?" He asked. I closed my eyes at the mere mention of him and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, an excellent one." I said trying to hold in my tears. Sirius' leg touched mine again and this time I didn't look up at him. I was concentrating too hard on my food so I wouldn't cry.

"What did your mother do again?" He asked me. I looked up at him.

"Why so interested in my parents?" I asked him challenging him to say more about them.

"Astrid that's rude, you don't speak to a guest like that." Rose hissed. I didn't pay any attention to her. I was too busy concentrating on not backing down. I felt a few memories rush past me and I realized that he was trying to read my mind. I pushed him out and he had a surprised look on his face.

"I was just making conversation." He said and I detected that he was impressed. We went back to eating.

"So have you guys been reading the paper lately?" He asked us.

"Somewhat." I answered and Sirius shrugged.

"What do you guys think about all those muggle killings?" He asked.

"We think its stupid. Oooo, look at me I killed a muggle, like its such a hard thing to do." I said. Sirius looked at me funny but I just touched his leg this time.

"You don't care that they are killing the muggles?" He asked.

"I think who ever is in charge is just trying to compensate for something. I wonder what?" I said laughing and Sirius joined in. I saw a flash of anger in this guys eyes. I checked to make sure my wand was in my pocket.

"I think he's bloody brilliant." Tom said.

"You would." I muttered.

"Ash!" Rose yelled. She had had it with my attitude. I knew who this guy was now. He was the guy who was gaining power; I just had this horrible feeling that it was him. Sirius looked at me, alarm in his eyes. I just touched his leg reassuringly.

"What is that supposed to mean… Rose sit down." He commanded.

"You know what I mean." I said and I got up. Sirius followed my example.

"Sit back down." He said quietly.

"I think we are done here." I said leaving the room. He jumped up and whirled around Sirius was by my side and we saw his eyes. They were bright red, he was mad. He raised his wand.

"I say when we are done." He said motioning for me to sit back down.

"No, you don't." I said lifting my hand and freezing him and Rose. He froze but only for a second. I saw him wiggling his way out of it. I panicked and threw him against a wall grabbing Sirius' hand and running.

"What the hell?" Sirius said running with me.

"I think we are going to have to use our wands." I said when I opened the door to reveal 6 death eaters waiting. I had seen then outside earlier. That was how I knew who he was. They all got out their wands but I was too quick, I moved them all to the side forcefully with the move of my hand. Sirius and I just kept running.

"We'll get expelled if we use magic outside of school. You know that." He said pulling me toward his house.

"No, what if they are there too?" I asked him. He paused but shook his head.

"Don't worry." He said and we ran straight for his house.

"Are the fires at school open at this time?" I asked him thinking we can floo to the school. I heard a few loud cracks and we stopped. Death eaters surrounded us. I moved my hands again this time I was thinking about losing my mom and dad and it seemed more powerful than before. Some of them flew so high they got caught in the trees. We started running again to his house, we finally made it.

"They aren't open." He said quickly. I racked my brain for a place to go.

"Ok." I said grabbing the floo powder.

"Hewitt household!" I yelled and we swirled in the fireplace heading to America. Once we got there I pulled him down the stairs we had to hide and we had to do it fast. We raced down the street toward an old boarded up house at the end of the block. I knew how to get in there since I was a little kid. I knocked a board three times and it opened up without difficulty. We dashed in and looked down the street back at my house. I saw a bunch of men in black cloaks appear outside of the house and they barged in.

"What was that?" Sirius said once she went further into the house. I lit a few candles in the room we were in and we found the chairs and sat in them. I blew them out so this place would look abandoned.

"Those were death eaters…. Oh my god. Drew." I said and I felt panic rise inside me.

"Its ok… here." He said handing me the mirror. I looked at it.

"You took the mirror from my room?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I was going to ask Drew if he would agree to us going out, I didn't want to get my ass kicked by him once he got home." He said. I whispered Drew into the mirror and it jumped to life. I could see Drew on the glass.

"Ash? What's wrong?" He said. I knew he could hear the panic in my voice.

"Death Eaters… They came to the house. I'm safe… don't worry Sirius is here with me. But you have to hide. You and Emma's family. They might be after you next," I said.

"WHAT! Where are you?" He asked.

"I'm at the old abandoned club. Come here once you think its safe… don't lead them here. And OUR house is flooded with them so don't go there," I said. I saw him nod and he disappeared.

"Thank god he is ok. I don't know what I would do without him." I said.

"What was that? You, what you did." He asked me. I would have to tell him sooner or later.

"Part of my heritage is Wicca, its another form of magic and that was it. I can freeze people, and I can move things with my hands and I can see the future or the past… something like that." I said. (A/N: I know it sounds a little too Charmed but I had to have the extra powers in there so they could use them without getting into trouble when they faced Voldermort.)

"Are you serious?" He asked me. I nodded. I could make out his face but I couldn't see his expression. Just then I heard the door open and I got very still. I wasn't even breathing.

"Ash?" I heard Drews voice and I started to breath again. There were two sets of footprints coming our way. Who did he bring with him? I thought.

"Over here." I said and they started our way. I saw whom he brought once he came into view. It was Emmeline Vance. Drew came over and gave me a big hug, which I thankfully accepted and returned.

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked seating Emma in a chair.

"Yeah I'm fine. If it wasn't for Sirius I wouldn't have had the courage to do what I did." I said giving Sirius' hand a grateful squeeze.

"I brought Emma because we can't find her parents anywhere." He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know, usually they never leave the cottage but when we returned this afternoon they had gone." She said. She sounded worried. I would be worried too. I told Drew and Emma what had happened back at the other house. When I finished Drew was looking like he would have an aneurysm he looked so mad.

"I knew something was wrong with that lady. See? What did I tell you, we cant trust anyone." He said pacing the floor.

"What do we do from here? Is there anywhere we can go?" I asked to no one in particular.

"James' house. His parents know Dumbledore and they will contact him. You can trust Dumbledore." Sirius said.

"We cant leave just yet." I said looking through the cracked boards again. They were still patrolling the neighborhood.

"I say we fight our way out." Drew said.

"You have enough anger to do it alone." I joked.

"If we fight our way out, we don't know what will happen? Can we really risk all of our lives?" I asked him.

"We have a wand. They cant expel us if we us it in emergency situations." Emma said.

"Lets take a vote. All in favor of fighting raise your hand." Everyone raised their hand except me. I didn't want to be held responsible for losing someone.

"ok…. Everyone got their wands?" I asked. And everyone raised their wands. I took a deep breath and we went toward the back door. I looked out there and saw no one. I opened a few boards and we climbed out. Drew and Emma went one way to check out the surrounding area and Sirius and I went the opposite way.

"Are you scared?" He whispered. I nodded.

"Just a tad. I don't want to lose anyone." I said holding his spare hand. He kissed the top of my head.

"You're not going to lose anyone." He promised. No one was on the left side of the house. We came around to the front and Drew and Emma joined us.

"Where is the nearest fireplace?" I asked him.

"Well, we can go to Mi… er John's place." He said correcting himself.

"Micah is closer. I think we should go there." I said, I wasn't trying to cause problems but it was closer and I wanted out of here.

"What about Mrs. Jones? She'll let us use it." He said. He was right so we headed to the house that was around the corner. Before we could see her house we saw the Mark. It was the same skull and snake that I saw on that guy's arm before. It was the Dark Mark. Sirius pulled us back into the bushes.

"What are you doing?" Drew said angrily.

"That's the dark Mark… it only appears over the house once Voldermort kills everyone within the house." Sirius said and before he could say anymore we saw Lord Voldermort come out of the house with a smug grin on his face and then he disappeared. Drew and I looked at each other.

"Micah!" We said at the same time running in the opposite direction. She lived on the other block, it was only a five minute run. I was first to the door and I barged in without knocking at all. Micah's mom came out hearing all the noise.

"Oh dear… what is wrong?" She asked us and we closed the door. There was no place to hide at all. I quickly muttered a no apparating spell on the house and tried to catch my breath. Micah's mom led us to the living room and sat down opposite us.

"Whats wrong, you look terrible." She said.

"The people that killed our parents are after us and they are here and they killed Mrs. Jones." I said rushing through the sentence. Micah came down the stairs with John right behind her.

"What's going on?" Micah asked at the sight of us.

"Why don't you just sit right here and I'll get you something." Micah's mom said leaving the room.

"We don't have time. We have to go." I said in a hurry. I grabbed some of the floo powder and I pulled Sirius in after me.

"Potters!" Sirius yelled and everything swirled around us. Mr. Potter was sitting in a chair near the fire and he jumped up prepared to fight until he saw Sirius.

"I hope they'll be safe." I said once we stepped out of the fireplace. I waited anxiously for Drew to come through with Emma but he wasn't showing up. Sirius was busy explaining to Mr. Potter what had happened.

"Something is wrong." I said taking the dish with floo powder off the mantle. Sirius pulled me back from the fire.

"Don't, just wait a few more seconds." He said. I waited but I was itching to get out of there and see Drew. Nothing can happen to him, it just cant. Just as I was thinking the worse Drew and Emma came through the fireplace.

"What happened?" I demanded. He brushed the soot off of him and helped Emma through the opening.

"They were on their side." Drew said. He looked really hurt.

"Who was on who's side?" I asked confused.

"Micah, her family and John. They have been working for Lord Voldermort all this time. Micah's mom had contacted him and he came to the house just after you disappeared. I had to throw him across the room. Calling Micah and John to come with us but they stayed there smiling at me. As if they knew this was going to come. Then we went to Hogwarts so they wouldn't know to come here." Drew said. I sat down on the floor and I started to think about all the times when Micah and I would talk about our parents work and everything. She knew all about our special powers because she was our friend when we were kids. She knew and her parents knew and they betrayed us. Betrayed my whole family and for what? Power? Money? What could it have been that would drive them to betray me and my family?

"Ash?" Sirius said sitting next to holding me close to him. I was too far away for him to get my attention. For any one to get my attention.


	23. Chapter 23

Drew's POV

"Mr. Potter… can you contact Dumbledore please?" I asked sitting in front of Ashleigh. I myself couldn't believe that our life long friends would betray us like that. We had spent years talking about our families and they knew all about our special powers because they were there when we first discovered them. I saw James come down the stairs rubbing his eyes. It was around midnight and we were disturbing this family. I felt bad.

"Sirius?" James asked half awake. Mr. Potter got off his chair and wrote on a piece of paper and muttered a charm. It zoomed around the room quickly and then disappeared. I recognized it as a flying memo. Hopefully Dumbledore would get here fast.

"Mrs. Potter do you have an extra bed or room that Ashleigh can use? I think she needs some sleep." I asked her. She nodded and went with Sirius to escort her to a room. She needed a sleeping potion. A dreamless sleeping potion.

"James, do you have any potion ingredients? I need to make a dreamless sleep potion." I asked him.

"Yeah, we got some already made. My mum has trouble sleeping sometimes." He said leading me into the kitchen. He pulled out a flask and handed it to me.

"What happened?" He asked me.

"Death Eaters… they came after us and we barely escaped." I said I was still I little shaken up, but I had to put everything out of my mind at the moment. We went back to the living room and Emma was sitting on the couch. I hoped she was ok and I wanted to make sure she was but I had to put Ashleigh to sleep. She needed it; I knew what was going through her mind right now. She was probably agonizing over the fact that our best friends of over 10 years were death eaters. Sirius came back down the stairs.

"Hey do you have…. Is that a dreamless sleep potion?" He asked. I nodded and handed it to him. He was a good guy, a player but a good guy. I had a feeling that he really cared for Ashleigh and she needed someone like that. I knew that I would always care about her and worry about her but I also had to care for Emma too. I was lucky that Sirius was there too. So was Ashleigh. In that instant Dumbledore appeared in front of me. I sat next to Emma holding her.

"Would you explain to me what happened?" He asked me sitting down opposite me. Sirius came back down the stairs with James trailing behind him.

"He can start from the very beginning." I said pointing to Sirius. Dumbledore turned his attention to Sirius. And he began from the beginning.

"Wait, who is Rose?" Dumbledore asked.

"She said she was our Aunt and that our grandfather had some business he had to take care of and let her in charge." Drew answered the question.

"I need you to look for Aberforth, find out where he is. Take Figg and Johnson with you." He said turning to Mr. Potter. He nodded and left. I had never actually known my grandfather's name was Aberforth, I just called him grandfather.

"Go on." He said urging Sirius on. Sirius continued to tell the story until he got to the part where Ashleigh and he arrived here. Then it was my turn. I told him what had happened once Ashleigh and Sirius had left us.

"You guys are very brave, all of you. I have to admit that Gryffindor does suit you well." He said his eyes were twinkling behind his half moon glasses.

"Where is Ashleigh now?" He asked me.

"We put her to sleep with a dreamless sleep potion. She was really out of it once I told her about Micah and John." I said to him.

"You did great, you're father would be proud." He had said it so low that I barely heard it. Mr. Potter and two other people showed up.

"Did you find him?" Dumbledore asked without turning to see who was behind him.

"Yes, we had to take him to St. Mungo's. He's been badly hurt. He's asking for you." Mr. Potter said. Dumbledore nodded and got up.

"What about us? Where do we go?" I asked Dumbledore. Mrs. Potter rushed forward.

"You can all stay here. We have room and everything. I would be delighted if you stayed." She said squeezing James shoulders and he nodded eagerly. Dumbledore nodded and left us there. If Dumbledore could trust these people then I guess I could let my guard down a bit. What was I talking about? Of course I couldn't even if Dumbledore trusted them. I couldn't trust anyone, only Ashleigh. This must happen when the people that you trusted most turn on you. I couldn't imagine what had made them turn. Was it money? Power? Fame? Whatever it was it couldn't be worth stabbing your best friends in the back for.

"James, show Drew and Sirius to your room, there are already beds made up for them in there. And Emma dear follow me." She said walking up the stairs. I gave Emma a small kiss on the cheek and she disappeared up the stairs. After James said good night to his dad we went upstairs to a room that was covered in Quidditch poster and junk. It reminded me of my room before anything had happened. We soon went to sleep and I kept having nightmares through out the night.

Ashleigh's POV

How could a great day turn into one of the worst days of my life? I thought as I climbed out of the bed I had been sleeping in. I didn't know where I was. I looked around the room and it looked nice. It had yellow and light green walls that matched the white carpet and two beds. Emma was sleeping in a bed next to me. Emma? I thought and then it hit me. I knew where I was. I got out of bed and walked to the door. I didn't see anyone so I went down the stairs. I remembered the living room from yesterday.

"Good morning." I jumped when I heard Dumbledore's voice behind me.

"Good morning Professor." I said smiling.

"You can call me Dumbledore." He said, I had noticed that his eyes weren't twinkling behind his glasses at all; they looked rather sad. Drew came rushing down the stairs but he stopped once he saw me and gave a sigh of relief.

"Hey." I said and he nodded. We sat down with Professor Dumbledore and we started talking polite talk but I wanted to know why our best friends had turned to the other side.

"Maybe he is threatening to kill them and their families." I said out of nowhere.

"That's still no excuse." Drew said darkly.

"Come on! You know that you would turn if he threatened to kill me or mum or dad. I'd do the same for you cause I would never want to see you die." I said.

"I wouldn't care if I died, just as long as you don't and who cares what he said to them. They are smart witches they could have fought or at least told us. They acted as if they had been expecting this from the beginning." He said.

"I don't want…. No I REFUSE to believe that the last people that we had trust in could or even would do that to us." I said.

"Well believe it Ash, cause its happened. We never should have trusted them anyway, we never should trust anyone. Once we do they either die or turn." He said looking at Dumbledore as if he would croak next.

"How would you know, that was two cases. You have never let anyone in except for me. It took you years before you let Micah in." I said.

"And you let everyone in. this is how we get into these messes. You trust strangers." He said.

"Yeah that's because I have a little more faith in mankind than you do." I said.

"God! Ash the world doesn't consist of kittens and balloons and pink… frilly… twotos." Drew yelled at me.

"I know that. I don't want to live life automatically assuming the worst of people when I meet them. Did you assume the worst of Emma?" I said and I knew that I shouldn't have said anything.

"I think that is enough. I need to share some news with you." Dumbledore said. Drew and I were staring into each other's eyes. We weren't going to break our gaze.

"Your grandfather died last night. He was wounded badly when he tried to fight ten death eaters at once. He died a hero." Dumbledore said and I saw a single tear run down his face. I couldn't cry and I couldn't speak. We sat in silence for a while. I couldn't believe that he was dead. I didn't even get to know him. I knew that he was a proper and sweet man but I never really knew him.

"What do we do now?" I asked in a small voice.

"You stay with me." Dumbledore said.

"Can you do that?" Drew asked. Could he? I mean I know that I trusted Dumbledore and Drew did too but he wouldn't admit it not even to himself.

"Yes… after all I am your Uncle. He said.

"WHAT!" I said not believing a word he was saying. If he were, wouldn't we know?

"I am your great Uncle. Aberforth was my brother. He had your grandfather who had your dad who had you." He said. I had always thought he was our grandfather. I didn't know he was our great grandfather.

"Do we have any other family left? Not that we don't want to stay with you, we do. I'm just curious." Drew said.

"Yes you do. You have an Aunt on your mom's side. And an Uncle on your dads side but we wont talk about him." Dumbledore said.

"Why not?" I asked talking about him. Dumbledore took a deep breath.

"He was the black sheep of the family. He hated everything in life and he became one of Voldermorts followers." Dumbledore said.

"Are you serious? Who does this guy NOT have?" I asked loudly. I couldn't believe how many people followed him.

"He doesn't have me." Sirius said coming to sit next me.

"Or me." Emma said on the stairs.

"He's definitely not going to have me." James said making a grossed out face that made us laugh.

"And he will never have me." Dumbledore said.

"Me either. He's gross and creepy." I said.

"I'm with you." Drew said and we all laughed. Mrs. Potter came out of the kitchen.

"I made breakfast for everyone. Come and eat up." She said and we all went into the kitchen. I knew that she had bewitched it to make it longer to fit everyone in. She was an incredible cook too. I ate blueberry pancakes, bacon, blueberry muffin, eggs and corn beef hash. We joked around and had a great morning. And I caught myself wishing that I had my parents back here with me. Our Sunday morning breakfasts and Quidditch games were something that I yearned for.


	24. Chapter 24

Sirius went back to his home just to gather his stuff and get out of there. His mom, he said, was happy that she didn't have to deal with him anymore. He stayed at the Potters' for the remaining of the summer. So did we, we had to get all our stuff from our home. Emma had to stay there too because her parents still hadn't turned up. Drew spent most of the summer locked in the room with Emma trying to comfort her. Dumbledore had asked James' parents if we could stay there while he was working for the Order. They quickly agreed, I had a feeling that they both belonged to the Order.

Lily and I owled each other regularly. And each time I got a letter from her James would try to read it. Finally I put an ink bomb in one of the letters that I had received and I walked into the kitchen getting ready to open it. James jumped out of his chair and grabbed it from me.

"James! NO!" I said trying not to laugh and to sound mad, He wasn't paying attention but Sirius saw the look in my eye and pulled it from James just as he opened it. It exploded on both of them. Sirius blew ink out of his mouth onto the table.

"Oh, you're going to get it." Sirius said jumping over the table heading for me. I screamed and ran out of the room, still laughing. He caught me and we fell to the ground on the grass outside. He sat on top of me and he kept smothering me in kiss getting ink all over my face.

"Yeah you show her mate!" I heard James yell from the doorway.

"Stop!" I squealed and he kept kissing me. He stopped and he looked me in the eye. He slowly bent his head and kissed me one last time on the lips. I didn't care if I had blue lips or a blue tongue.

"I love you." He whispered when we pulled apart. My heart froze. What should I say? Luckily James who start to jump up and down saved me.

"Hey! She is going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get her school things. We all have to go then so get your book list ready." James said jumping on Sirius, distracting him from what he said. I gave a weak smile and grabbed the letter from James' hand. Sirius was too busy wrestling with James to get him off to notice that I had gone back into he house. I could only avoid Sirius for so long until he would confront me. What do I say? Thanks but right now I can't fall in love? I'm sorry could you wait another couple of months? What do I say? Did I love him? I asked myself seriously considering it. I loved the way he acted, smelled, looked, and how he was so nice and kind and so brave. But did I love him? How were you supposed to know whether you loved someone or not anyway? God, I wished I could talk to my mom. I thought putting my face into my hands. I didn't even know what love was.

"Ash?" I knew I couldn't avoid him. I was sitting on my bed and he sat next to me.

"Did you hear what I said own stairs?" He asked me.

"Yeah… don't you think it's a little too soon though?" I asked him.

"I was just telling you how I feel… you don't feel the same?" He asked.

"I don't know what I feel." I said trufully.

"Do you even like me?" He asked.

"Of course I like you!" I said turning to him for the first time. He looked hurt, he had put his heart out on the line and I was crushing it with every word I said.

"Look, i'm not saying that I never can love you… I'm just saying that I think it's soon. I mean we just started going out…. I'm not used to those words at all. They change everything…. Cant we just stay at like for right now?" I asked. I was trying to explain how I feel but I could see the anger in him rise.

"its obvious that you don't know how you feel so how about we just take a break so you can figure out your feelings!" He said leaving and slamming the door. I closed my eyes and counted to ten to calm myself down. Tomorrow I would see Lily and I talk to her and the next day we would be going to Hogwarts.

Lily was looking incredible. She had trimmed her hair and she had more curves that made her look great.

"Oh my god!" I squealed running to her. She just laughed at my reaction.

"Girl, you look incredible!" I said looking her up and down. She was wearing short shorts and a white tank top.

"Thanks, oh man, you look great yourself… is that blue ink on your cheek?" She asked. I nodded, I hadn't gotten rid of all the ink on my face because it refused to wash off. I told her all about my trick and she laughed. She laughed even harder when she saw James who couldn't get it off his mouth.

"Come on, we need to talk." I said pulling her in he opposite direction. We had to get our books o we went to Flourish and Blotts. Sirius and I hadn't even looked at each other since the 'incident'. Oh god, I was calling it the 'incident' now.

"Oh man, I have to talk to you… you'll never guess what Sirius did yesterday." I said looking at some books in the fiction section. We decided to get our textbooks last.

"What did he do?" She asked very interested.

"He told me he loved me." I said with a half smile on my face.

"Oh my god, you're kidding. This is Sirius we are talking about. What did you say?" She asked totally impressed.

"I said that… it was too soon and I didn't know how I felt." I was looking at the ground at this point.

"Are you serious? You don't know if you love him or not?" She asked.

"It's just hard for me to love someone… I mean I don't even know what love is. Do you?" I asked her.

"Well, yeah, I mean I think I do. It's when you can't sleep, eat, or think without your thoughts traveling to that one person. At least that's what I think. It could be more." She said.

"Well, I do think about him a lot but I also think about other things too…. God, I don't know, don't you have to trust before you love?" I asked.

"Well, Duh. You don't trust him? After everything you have been through with him." She said.

"I guess I do trust him." I said looking at my feet. Because I did trust him, I mean he saved my life, fought for my honor, stuck with me even though he knew about my Wicca side. Maybe I did love him.

"I don't know, this is all so confusing." I said.

"Ok, take it from me… can you spend the next year, or even the rest of your life without him there. Without his touch, his wit, even his arrogant ness?" She asked me and I had the feeling that she was no longer talking about Sirius and me but about herself and James. But I still thought about it, could I live without him? Could I without his many smiles, his arrogant ways, without kissing him?

"I don't think I can. I'm too used to him, and I guess I do trust him." I said giving up my stubbornness and admitting to myself that I did love him.

"I need to find him… now." I said running out of the store. I went to the joke shop because I had the feeling he was stocking up on his supplies. And sure enough he was in the corner with James and they were whispering. I felt the butterflies in my stomach start flying again.

"Sirius?" I said tapping him on his shoulder. He turned around so fast I fell backwards on the ground. Teach me to sneak up on people.

"Are you ok? I didn't mean to…" He helped me up off the floor. I dusted off my shorts and I stood there awkwardly. James said something and left us there alone.

"Is there something you wanted?" He asked.

"Yeah… could we talk. I mean I wanted to tell you something…" but I still couldn't get it out.

"Sure… talk." He said and it was getting harder and harder to get the words out. I felt my throat closing off. It was just 3 stupid little words, why couldn't I say them?

"Sirius, I… why is this so hard for me? I mean you did it without a thought and I can't say the words no matter what I feel." I said. His was hard before but now it was softening.

"So does that mean you do love me?" He said. I wanted to shout out YES but I couldn't.

"I don't want us to break up because I like you A LOT and I may not be able to say those words now but I can tell you that I trust you…. And for me that is huge. You have to know that." Said. I still couldn't say those three fucking words. Sirius wrapped his arms around me and hugged me for a long time.

"I'll take those words over the others any day." He whispered in my ear.

"Are we still taking a break?" I asked him.

"I don't even know what I was thinking…. I was being a stupid git when I said that. I didn't really mean it." He said to me and I couldn't stop myself from kissing him.

"Awww, why don't you two love birds get a room." I heard a voice say. We broke apart and I looked at the girl who had jinxed me before at Hogwarts. I still didn't know her name.

"Sod off Bellatrix." Sirius said holding my hand. She looked offended.

"But my dear cousin, I just came over to say how happy we all were that you finally decided to leave the family. What with you touching filth and what not." She said gesturing to me.

"I said sod off." Sirius said through gritted teeth. She shrugged and walked off. I was ready to duel her until I realized that we couldn't use our magic yet. But I didn't care we could jinx her tomorrow on the train. Right now I wanted to concentrate on Sirius and I. we were together again and I was happy. I loved him, even though I couldn't say it yet.


	25. Chapter 25

Sirius and I had to split up for the rest of the day we were in Diagon Alley because Lily refused to hang out around James. I knew that she loved him but he was still too immature for her. So when I finally got her to agree to get ice cream with all of us I was happy. She sat across from James and I sat next to Sirius. Emma and Drew hadn't turned up yet. We all had a sundae, I loved the sundaes here, and they tasted so good.

"Ash, will you please pass me the sprinkles." Lily said pointing to the bottle of sprinkles next to James. They were all the way across the table and I would have to reach across the table for it.

"Ok… James can you pass the sprinkles?" I asked him. Instead of handing the sprinkles to me he handed them to Lily.

"Now look who is being immature." He said and he really started to act mature and that surprised me. Although I had managed to see a change in his attitude when we were living with him. Lily didn't look at him and I knew she was biting her lip so she wouldn't start fighting again.

"You're right. That was immature of me." Lily said and I looked at her with surprise. I couldn't believe that she was admitting that. A small spark of hope ignited within me, could it be that she would talk him about her feelings? But she never said anything else.

"So, does anyone know who the new DADA teacher is?" I asked. I had heard that Professor Flasick was going to follow his dream of becoming a singer. But with his monotone voice that was very unlikely.

"No one knows." James said talking again. We talked for the rest of the time about Quidditch. James was now the captain of the Gryffindor team. Samuels had asked me if I wanted to be Captain but I knew that James or Sirius deserved it more.

"So you already have your eye on a keeper?" I said giggling.

"Yeah, don't worry Drew is already on the team. We need him, badly. The Slytherin team just got a new chaser from that school in Belgium and rumor is he is great. Pro material." James said getting serious and then him and Sirius started to talk about the English team and how they messed up in the Quidditch finals. I pulled the stick of peppermint candy out of my sundae and I started to suck on it. I loved peppermint candy. Lily looked sour as she licked her spoon.

"Lily do you want to leave? I'll go with you." I said to her.

"No, I don't want to leave… actually my parents are going to pick me up in a few minutes I better get to the Leaky Cauldron." She said getting up.

"I'll go with you." I said jumping up.

"No, you stay here. I'll see you tomorrow morning though." She said leaving without saying good-bye to anyway else. I felt like a bad friend but I couldn't do anything she was already half way down the road toward the Leaky Cauldron.

"She'll be fine." Sirius said reassuring.

"Yeah I know." I said.

"Why does she hate me so much?" James asked.

"Because you're immature." I said. James opened his mouth and then closed it looking surprised while glancing back and forth between Sirius and me.

"Are you kidding me? I was being really mature today. I didn't even play that stupid game she was." He said. I knew he was right but I had to stay on Lily's side.

"you weren't immature today, but you went at it all wrong last year. And especially trying to black mail her into going out with you." I said. I knew it was blackmail but I couldn't think of the actual word that would describe it.

"I was just trying to be funny. I like her a lot. I don't know what it is, she just… she's amazing. And I can't help but show off for her or in front of her." He said.

"Tone it down. Don't show off in front of her. Its not attractive." I said.

"What attracted you to me?" Sirius asked. I had to think about the first time I was attracted to him.

"It was that fact that I couldn't have you… that Amber had her claws in you." I said.

"Did you even like me?" He asked. I pretended to think really hard and he started to tickle me.

"Honestly? I was just attracted to you and then I got to actually know you and I started to like you." I told him. He pretended to look offended and then he kissed the tip of my nose.

"Well I was attracted to you from the second I saw you… no joke. When I first laid eyes on you I knew that I had to get to know you more." He said.

"Please Padfoot you know it was more like I cant wait to snog with this girl." Remus said who had just entered the scene.

"REMUS!" I said giving him a hug. We had been writing to each other all summer. He knew everything about me, even the fight Sirius and I had had. But he didn't have time to Owl me to give me some advice.

"Moony! Old pal" James said giving him a one armed manly hug. Sirius gave him a hug too and we sat back down.

"Here, have the rest of mine." I said giving him my sundae but taking my peppermint stick. He raised his eyebrow at me when he saw Sirius put his arm around me. I just rolled my eyes and smiled.

"So I see there is no longer trouble in paradise." Remus said and Sirius looked at me straight away.

"You told him?" He sounded a little peeved.

"Well, yeah, I asked his advice, I mean he does know you." I said giving him a sweet innocent look.

"I still can't believe you told one of my best mates." Sirius said taking my peppermint stick.

"Hey! Give that back!" I said yanking it out of his mouth and I put it in mine. He bite off the other end.

"You git, you suck." I said putting the rest in my mouth. We talked and laughed and just sat there until Drew and Emma came and then it was time to leave and go pack.

On the train Remus and Lily had to sit with the other Prefects. I sat in the compartment with Sirius, James and Peter. Drew had gone with Emma to the compartment where all her friends were. I think she has him wrapped around her little finger. I yawned and placed my head on Sirius' shoulder, I was so tired. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night. After a while I felt myself drift to sleep.

"Ashleigh, you have to believe me… I didn't want it to end this way…" the voice of a girl said.

"You WILL obey me!" A separate voice that sounded so evil and made me shiver spoke this time.

"Ash! NO!" I recognized this voice, it was Sirius'.

"Please… don't do anything…. I'll do whatever." I heard my own voice say.

"Of course you will." I heard before I felt the most excruciating pain in my life. I was screaming because it was so painful.

Sirius who was looking at me with worry in his eyes shook me awake. I was sweating and I was panting hard. I didn't know what that was and what had happened but my bones were still shaking from the pain I had felt in my dream.

"Are you ok?" He asked touching my arm. I looked around to see James and Peter looking a little scared. And my head was pounding and I felt like I wanted to throw up. What had happened? Who was that and why was I mixed up in that situation. It had to have been Voldermort, I realized after a while.

"Ash?" Sirius said when I didn't answer him. I nodded really quick and got up. I needed to go to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. Take some aspirin or something. I shakily got up and left the compartment. Sirius followed me.

"Ash? Hey what's wrong?" He asked.

"I just got a head ache. I need to go to a bathroom." I said looking around me, I couldn't remember where the bathroom was. Sirius pointed to a sign down the hall. I waved thanks and walked toward it. No one was in the bathroom. I went to the sink and splashed water on my face. I didn't see anything in my dream, it was blackness and I could hear everything. The girls voice sounded very familiar but I couldn't place it. Was it someone from Hogwarts? My thoughts were interrupted when a few girls entered the bathroom. One of them was Bellatrix. I was not in the mood to deal with her right now. I made a move to leave but she jumped in front of me.

"Awww, is the little blood traitor scared?" She said in a baby voice.

"I am not in the mood to deal with you now. Get the fuck out of my face." I didn't usually resort to swear words but I wanted to make an impression on her.

"Or what?" She said in a menacing tone.

"Or I will hex you into the next generation. I hate you and you hate me… lets leave each other alone. You don't want to mess with me. Now MOVE!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Make me." She said with a smile on her face. I pushed her out of the way and went past her. I was halfway down the isle when I heard her say a jinx. I turned and I froze everything around me. A jet of magic was an inch from my nose. Thank god I had quick reflexes. I jumped to the ground and I unfroze everything, the jet kept going until it hit Malfoy square in the chest. He grunted and doubled over sprouting boils all over his hands and face. I got up and escaped into the compartment where the guys were.

"What's going on out there?" Peter asked eagerly looking out the window. There was an all out war between Malfoy and Bellatrix now. I snickered when I saw the jets of light pass our door over and over.

"What did you do?" James asked looking at the victims.

"Bellatrix challenged me, but it…. It hit Malfoy instead…" I said laughing all out now. Sirius looked to see if it was true and he started to laugh with James.

"How did you get the war to go between Bellatrix and Malfoy?" I wanted to tell them that I had used my special powers but I didn't want Peter to know about them.

"I, uh… I ducked just in TIME to miss the jet and it hit Malfoy, I was lucky too because it was a hex to cause boils pop up all over. That would be real attractive…huh?" I said. Sirius and James knew what I was talking about when I emphasized on the word time.

"Knock that off right now!" I heard Lily's voice and we stopped laughing. Then we heard her yell in pain and James ran out there in the crossfire to see her. We went out there too, by this time the Head Boy and Head Girl had everything under control.

"Lily? Lily… wake up… please… oh God, I can't lose you Lil. I love you and I promise I will be there for you all the time and I wont play any more pranks on the Slytherins if you don't want me too. I promise, just wake up." I heard James say. Then I saw Lily open her eyes and she was smiling and blushing.

"You just heard all that?" He said and now he looked embarrassed. I bit my lip from laughing. Sirius steered Peter and me back into the compartment to give them privacy. But I wanted to make sure that Lily didn't screw it up this time.


	26. Chapter 26

For the entire ride to Hogwarts neither James nor Lily came into the compartment again. We didn't see either of them until the feast that night when they took a seat TOGETHER across from Sirius and I. Maybe they worked things out. I hoped so. I didn't want to have to divide my time with Lily and Sirius. All the first years were sorted and then Dumbledore told us to eat. I wasn't hungry, I still had my headache from earlier. After everyone looked stuffed and bloated Dumbledore stood up and made a long speech. Lily left everyone to gather all the first years around to take them to the common room. I hung back with Sirius who had his arm around me.

"You're amazing." He said out of nowhere.

"Why is that?" I asked laughing at his sudden randomness.

"I just think you are so amazing. No girl has been able to captivate me like you do. I'm used to going out with a girl for a few weeks tops and then I get bored and its over. But I have never once felt bored with you." He said holding my hand.

"Is that why you said you loved me?" I asked. We were seriously lagging behind everyone.

"That… and because I have never felt such energy and electricity or even a type of force between me and anyone. I don't know, it seems like every time we kiss there is something pulling us together…. Don't you feel it." He asked me.

"Yeah…. I do feel it. But I thought I was the only one who felt it." I said laughing at the weirdness of it all. I did feel the force or whatever it was. Kind of like electricity surging through my body.

"Don't worry honey, your not the only one who feels it." He said and he stopped and pulled me close to him. He was a foot taller than me and I loved that. He bent down and kissed me on the lips and I felt the electricity go through me again. Leaving me breathless even though it was a soft small kiss.

"Keep going. No snogging in the halls." The Head Boy said. He was in Ravenclaw, I recognized him as one of Gideon's friends. I felt a pang of guilt when I thought of Gideon. I hadn't written to him at all this summer and I told him I would. He was sure to see me in the Great Hall with Sirius. And I was laughing and talking and Sirius' arm was around me. He probably knew, if not it would be awkward to talk to him.

I went straight to bed even though I wasn't tired. I wanted to talk to Lily and ask what was up. Were she and he together or were they at least on speaking terms? I hadn't seen her in the common room so I assumed that she was in the dorm either in bed or getting ready for bed. But when I got up there no one was in the dorm. Where was she? And what was she doing? I hadn't seen her leave the common room, I hadn't even seen her enter the common room come to think of it. She was probably talking to James or something, I told myself as I got into bed. I thought I wasn't sleepy but as soon as I got in bed I was asleep.

While I was dreaming I had a flash or a little boy who had the same eyes as Lily, and the same messed up hair as James. I had another vision of a little girl that had the same eyes as Sirius but looked like me when I was younger. There was also another two kids that I couldn't see clearly but I knew they were kids. I saw a flash of green light and a dozen people die. I saw a woman leaning over a grave crying. And I saw a group of people honoring a wall that had a bunch of names on it.

I woke up half asleep. I heard someone coming into the room. I opened my curtains and saw Lily getting into her bed. What time was it? I glanced at the clock. It was 3 in the morning.

"Lily? Where were you?" I whispered trying not to wake anyone up.

"I was… I had to… I was talking to Potter… er, I mean James." She said and she had a huge smile on her face that she was trying to hide.

"Talking? Or fighting?" I asked but I knew that it was talking.

"Talking. We were working on everything that had gone wrong." She said.

"Ooo, does that mean you are together again?" I asked with hope in my voice.

"No… we decided to just be friends for right now and not rush into anything. But he gave me a very intimate hug before we left each other." She said giggling. I started to giggle with her. We said good night and we would giggle every now and then until we both fell asleep again. I woke up three hours later and started to get ready for the first day of classes. I was happy to be back in school and able to use my magic again. I loved doing magic.

I washed my hair and pulled it up into a ponytail having a few hairs falling down tucked behind my ears. I applied some lip-gloss and I put on a touch of eye shadow. Not too much, and not a lot of colors. I heard someone getting up, it was Amber's old best friend, Sara. We had been polite to each other since Amber left the school.

"Hi." I said being nice. She waved a small hi and started to brush her hair.

"Listen… I know things aren't so good between us because of Amber… but seriously, I didn't know she would resort to what she did. That was horrible what she did to you and if she was still around, I wouldn't associate with her." Sara said. I knew that Sara had no part in what Amber did and it was possible that she didn't know Amber's plans either.

"I know, don't worry, I don't blame you for anything." I said finishing up in the bathroom. I grabbed my bag with my books and supplies and pulled it over my head to let it rest on my shoulder and rest the books against my side. That was how I liked my bags, all of my purses and bags were the ones that went over your shoulder and rested on your hip. Lily was still fast asleep and I wanted to wait for her but I had an early morning date with Sirius, even though he didn't know about it. I left the room and headed toward the boy's dorms. I softly knocked on the door and a few seconds later Remus came to the door. He gestured toward Sirius half asleep and went back to his bed. I creped up on Sirius and lay down beside him. I was facing him and I was blowing on his face. Occasionally he would move his nose and I silently laugh. I kept doing this until he finally opened his eyes and saw my smiling face.

"Good morning sleepy head." I said giving him a kiss on the lips. He welcomed it and wrapped his arms around me.

"I should be waking up like this every morning." He said giving me another kiss. I giggled and tried to get up but he pulled me back onto the bed.

"You have to let me go." I said.

"No, I want to stay like this forever in this moment. This is when I am my happiest." He said holding on as if I were going to disappear on him.

"I wouldn't mind that," I whispered and I closed my eyes. This was also the happiest I had ever been. It reminded me of those times when you think you have to be at your happiest and then 5 horrible things happen to that one happy thing. I didn't want time to move on to bring those 5 horrible things.

"Ashleigh?" I heard Drew's voice. Shit, I should have remembered that he was in this room.

"Yeah?" I said. He looked at me as if I was going too far.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked.

"I was just giving Sirius his wake up call." I said. He shook his head and went back to his bed. I knew he want to talk to me later about how I wasn't being responsible enough or something like it.

"I better get going. Hurry and get ready so we can go to breakfast together." I said leaving his room. He whined a little before I left but he got up fast and ran to the bathroom to get ready. I raced back to the girl's dorm to catch Lily grabbing her stuff before coming down.

"I thought you already left for breakfast." She said.

"No, just had to give Sirius a wake up call… and everyone else in the room." I said. We left giggling about the boys. We were such girls to be giggling so much. But I guess when you are in love… or like you giggle a lot because you are so happy. And that was what I was, happy. Sirius was down by the portrait hole waiting for me, James was half asleep until he saw Lily and then he perked up. Drew was already gone and Remus was still sleeping.

"May we escort you two lovely ladies to breakfast?" Sirius said holding out his hand.

"No." I said joking around. He grabbed my hand anyway and we ran down the hall. He picked me up and started to twirl me around.

"Stop it." I said laughing. Lily and James finally caught up. They looked to be deep in conversation about something.

"… yeah, he isn't going to get re-elected… I mean with his policies and everything…" I heard James say. Were they talking about politics? Did James know about politics? I didn't know that he kept up with the current events so much. That was definitely a surprise. We ate breakfast and the mail came. I got a letter and I opened it. It was from Micah. My good mood left me suddenly.

'Ash, I know that you probably don't want to talk to me but I have to explain what happened…'

I read that first sentence and I debated with myself whether or not I should continue. I was very interested in knowing why they had betrayed us. I needed to know really.

'… He had taken my dad and he told us that he would kill him if we didn't play along and then I remember just blacking out and I don't know what I did but I do know what my mom told me. She said that you guys did get away and I was happy that you did because I love you guys to no end. But because you guys left he killed my dad and he killed John's whole family. He left and said he would be back soon. We ran, we didn't want to be near him or work for him or whatever. We NEVER told him about you or Drew's other abilities. We didn't tell him anything. I promise you. Please, just write to me to tell me you are ok. Only this owl knows where I am. I'm sorry… but you can understand right?

Love always,

Micah.'

I tried not to cry as I read the letter. I was right she was being controlled and he was threatening her. But why didn't he kill her and John? Why did he let them live? It didn't seem like his M/O at all. Unless he needed them for something else in the future. I felt myself trying to forgive her but my mind was still filled with many questions. What could it hurt to write to her? Just to say that I was alive. That's not a big deal. I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote that I was ok and so was Drew and that I hoped she would survive and to be careful cause this guy was horrible. And then I sent it off with the owl that had stayed the entire time. Drew hadn't noticed the look on my face and Sirius and Remus were talking about the next full moon. Lily and James were still talking about politics. This would be a secret that I would keep to myself unless someone brought her up. I looked toward the head table and Dumbledore was looking straight at me. I knew that he was trying to read my thoughts but I wouldn't let him. Sirius looked back at me and smiled. I gave him a weak smile back. He turned back to his conversation and I looked at my letter again. Could I trust her? Maybe I should talk to Dumbledore before I write to her again. I would talk to him, I knew I could trust him.

"I'll meet you in class." I said leaving before he could ask any questions. I approached Professor Dumbledore.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked him. He put down his tea and we left the Great Hall to go to his office. Once in there he offered me a lemon drop but I politely declined. He sat down and I did too. Before he could say anything I handed him my letter. He took a minute to read it before setting it down.

"And what do you think?" He asked me. He was supposed to tell me what I think, I wasn't supposed to think about it. I didn't really want to.

"I don't know. Do you think she may be right…?" I slowly asked him.

"I don't know her. You do." He said simply.

"I don't know what to think anymore. I want to trust her but what if it's a trap?" I asked him.

"Well, it says that she kind of blacked out…that could be the result of the imperious curse. It might be part of his M/O but I doubt it. He doesn't leave behind survivors unless he needs them in the future. But I doubt that he would just let them carry on with their lives." That didn't help me at all. I was thinking all those same things before I came to him.

"Just tell me what to do… I need some advice." I said desperately. He shook his head.

"I can't tell you what to do. You just have to trust your instincts." He said.

"You're not that helpful." I said joking around. He laughed and I just went to my next class. I had just stuffed the letter into my book bag. It was the first class of the year and we had double potion with the Slytherins. I sat next to Lily and in front of Sirius.

"Hey." He whispered and I just smiled at him.

"Why did you leave the Great Hall?" He asked but I didn't answer him because the professor had come in and started to talk. Hopefully he wouldn't ask again later, I didn't feel ready to explain yet.


	27. Chapter 27

**MistakenLove – To answer your question, my last name before my mom married my dad was Hewitt. I'm actually Ashleigh Hewitt… Hey maybe we are related lol…...I'm not very good at coming up with names. If you look at most of my stories (not just the ones about harry Potter) then you'll see the same names, different personalities but the same names. **

**And to all my other reviews, thank you so much for reviewing. Because of all the reviews I keep cranking out these chapters. I love this story plot and I am sure I wont slow down any time soon. Hope you enjoy the story**

James had us working harder than Samuels ever had. I could barely stay on my broom I was so tired and I was freezing. I kept slipping off because I would shiver and that would jerk me awake. I opened my eyes and sighed just in time to see the Quaffle coming straight at my face.

"Ash! Pay attention!" James yelled flying over to me.

"James, I'm tired… we all are. We can't practice like this. You have to let us get some sleep. These early morning practices are not paying off." I said yawning the whole time.

"She's right mate, look at us." Sirius said coming up behind James now. James took a quick look around the field. We were a mess, Drew was falling off his broom, and Simon was sleeping on his. Delilah and Dorcas were sleeping on each other in mid air.

"Ok, fine… I guess your right. We just can't afford to lose to Slytherin." He said flying to the ground screaming for everyone to hit the locker room.

"Thanks." I said to Sirius.

"For what?" He asked yawning himself.

"He wouldn't have listened if you didn't agree." I said to him.

"He would to." Sirius said.

"Come on, he wont listen to anyone except you and maybe Lily." I said yawning; James had us practicing every morning at 5 for the last week and a half. I was surprised that Sirius let him do it for this long. I knew he was getting tired of it because he was never awake in class or outside of class anymore. When we came to the Great Hall and people were eating and they were awake and happy and all I wanted to do was sleep. Drew sat down with me and I fell asleep on his shoulder.

"Ash, get up. You have to eat something." He said. I obediently woke up and stuffed a piece of toast in my mouth.

"He's mad." I muttered to myself eating some bacon.

"Who is?" Drew asked.

"James, making us get up every morning at 5. He's mad." I muttered again. The mail came and I hoped that Micah hadn't owled me back. Not while Drew was sitting next to me. But to my luck she did. I recognized the owl immediately. It swooped down and dropped the letter waiting for me to read it. I opened the letter and tried to keep it from Drew's prying eyes.

"That's Micah's hand writing." He said snatching the letter from my hand. He read it and then he turned to me. He didn't look tired anymore.

"You're talking to her!" He said a little too loudly.

"Drew… calm down, she wrote me last week. I just told her we were fine, that's all." I said and the owl nipped me trying to hurry me into writing back to her. I shooed it away and it left.

"I can't believe you would do this! After everything she did, everything she put us through." Drew said. I grabbed his arm and I dragged him out of the Great hall. I didn't want people to know our business.

"Unlike you, I wanted to know what happened, why they did it." I said and I saw the anger in him rise.

"It doesn't MATTER! Whether they were threatened or they did it on their own, we can't rust them. What were you telling them? Where we are staying in the summer. Good one Ash, we'll all die!" He yelled.

"SHUT UP! I didn't tell her anything important! Don't you yell at me for doing what I think was right. They were threatened. I told you that was what happened." I said and my anger was rising in me now. I didn't notice that we were both levitating in the air. Neither of us did, we were too wrapped up in our fight to care.

"It doesn't matter, she was still on his side." Drew said trying to control his anger.

"He killed her dad and all of John's family. They are all dead. Micah and John and Micah's mom are the only survivors." I said. He flinched for a second because John's family was like a second family to him.

"That's their own fault." Drew said quietly and we both started to return to the ground.

"Have you ever thought that maybe it is our fault? That our parents, their parents, their families are dead because of us. Because we are still alive?" I asked him. He didn't say anything and I knew that he had thought it.

"Its not our fault." He said.

"Maybe it is. It seems to me that everyone we get close to either dies or turns to the other side. I'm tired of it. I don't want to deal with it anymore." I said.

"What do you suggest we do? Huh? Run away? Kill ourselves? Turn to the other side?" He asked laughing at each one as he said it.

"I don't know…but I don't want anyone else to die because of us. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of us." We just stood there for a while, neither of us saying a word. Sirius and Lily came our way and they stopped because they could feel the tension throughout the hall. It was so think you could cut it with a knife. Drew gave one more look at me and left me standing there with Sirius and Lily.

"Is something wrong?" Sirius asked after Drew's body was out of sight. I was still staring in that direction. I knew I was right, everyone was dieing or turning that was close to us. We couldn't trust anyone and if we could, we couldn't get close to him or her. They would just end up dead. I took a deep breath and shook my head no.

"We heard you guys fighting in the Great hall. What was it about?" Lily asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. Lets go to class." I said leaving for Charms. The only way I knew how to deal with our problem was to practice magic. Learn more than what they teach in class. I needed to be powerful enough to hurt him, sting him… teach him not to mess with the people I loved.

"Class… settle down… get into groups of four and start practicing." He said. I looked to Drew who got in the same group as Emma. Sirius touched my hand and I turned my attention to him.

"Group?" He asked softly. I nodded and sat with him, James and Lily. I got mine done first and I helped them a little. But they got it right away too. We just sat there and I was reading further into my book. I wanted to learn more than anything. All I wanted to do was become one of the most powerful witches there was.

"You read too much." Sirius said joking.

"I just want to learn." I said trying not to take my bad mood out on him. I made myself lighten up and get back into a good mood.

"Hey, I want to show you something… are you hungry?" Sirius asked me.

"No, why?" I asked.

"Lets skip lunch so I can show you something… ok?" He said and I nodded. I wouldn't mind spending some time with alone. We skipped lunch and he brought me to one of the towers. I didn't recognize it because I only knew how to get to the astronomy tower.

"Close your eyes." He said covering my eyes with his hand. He led me up the last few steps and I was trying not to trip. When he pulled his hand off of my eyes I looked and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I could see everything, the lake, the mountains, and the forbidden forest. It was all so beautiful in the sunlight.

"Wow…" I said leaning over the side to see more. He grabbed my waist and laughed.

"Careful honey, you don't want to fall." He said.

"I don't think it would be so bad." I said. And he looked at me with confusion in his face. I sighed and sat with my back against the wall and he joined me.

"I feel as if everyone I get close to gets hurt, and I don't want that to happen to you, the Potters, Remus or Lily. You guys are basically all I have besides Dumbledore and Drew." I said. Sirius reached for my hand and he studied my fingers for a little while.

"I am not going to get hurt, and neither are the rest of us… this war will be over soon and I'm going to help make sure of that. And then you and I can spend the rest of our lives together." He said. The rest of our lives? He was doing it again, I wasn't sure if we were going to be together for the rest of our lives.

"…. Or however long we stay together." He said laughing at my reaction.

"That's gonna be a long time." I said settling into his arms and soon we fell asleep. I woke up to the sound of crickets chirping. I opened my eyes and it was dark outside. Oh god, we had missed our afternoon classes. I shook Sirius awake and he groggily looked around and then at me.

"We slept all afternoon." He said. I nodded.

"I hadn't meant to fall asleep." He said looking into my eyes. I gave him a small kiss on the lips and then he reached in his pocket for something. When I saw him pull out a ring my eyes got big.

"Sirius you be… are you really… what….?" I couldn't say what I was thinking at all. I was trying to talk again but he put his finger to my lips and I got quiet. If he asked me to marry him, I couldn't say yes.

"My uncle gave this to me before he died. He told me to give it to someone special. It's not an engagement ring. It's a promise ring. A promise that I will be there for you no matter what happens between us. And I wont let you push me away." He said slipping it onto my finger. It was made of white gold and it had three big blue topaz stones in it. Along with 4 tiny diamonds. It was beautiful, but could I accept it.

"Sirius, I don't know if I can accept this." I said admiring it. It was my favorite color and I loved it.

"Nonsense. You can, it's just a promise ring." He said and I smiled and gave him a big kiss. We started to make out until we heard footsteps coming up the stairs. We pulled apart and we played like we had fallen asleep.

"Sirius, Mate. McGonagall is looking for you two. You better hurry to her office. She knows you missed your afternoon classes." Remus said leaving us. We got up and went to see McGonagall. She gave us a detention for skipping class and then she told James that there was to be no more early morning training sessions. He was a bit mad at that and he wouldn't even look at me. I just left the common room to get away from his anger.

"OH MY GOD! He gave you a ring? Did he propose?" She asked. She was more excited then I was.

"No, he said it was a promise ring… I think all of this is going way too fast. What is wrong with me? Why cant I just accept it and be happy?" I asked her.


	28. Chapter 28

"Because you don't want to get hurt." She said. I knew that was true because if something happened to him and I let myself love him I would hurt and I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want us to break up or anything.

"You're yet again. I hate that you're always right." I said and we laughed about some odd things before Lily cooed over my ring again.

"I wish I could get a ring like that." She said enviously.

"Why don't you ask Potter." I said. She threw a pillow at me and we started to have a pillow fight. Neither one of us won.

Our first game was against Slytherin, Drew and I were on polite speaking terms which meant that we didn't talk about anything, just Quidditch and a few hellos in the hall and common room. He was still mad at me and I was still mad at him for bring mad at me. I guess it was kind of like an ongoing cycle. But I got way too much attention because of the ring on my finger. There were rumors going around all over the school about Sirius and I sleeping together or getting married in the summer. Every time someone would ask me about our relationship I would tell him or her that it was a promise ring. They probably didn't believe me anyway. Sirius was enjoying all the attention though and that was what was annoying. Girls would give me bad looks and talk behind my back while guys would congratulate him or slap him on the back and say nice job. I was jerked out of my train of thought when James gathered the team around him.

"Ok team, I know we are going to kick some Slytherin butt. If we can't do it off the field we can do it on the field." James said and we all ran onto the field ready to kick some Slytherin ass. We flew into the air and I was the first to get the Quaffle when the referee blew her whistle. I raced to the other end of the field getting ready to score when the new chaser steals the ball from me. I had underestimated him. I nodded to Simon who flew after him trying to distract him from making the goal. He was successful enough, I stole the ball back and zoomed in the opposite direction. I scored just as he touched my hand. I squealed as Sirius came up behind me and gave me a kiss in the air. James and I gave each other a high five and we got back in the game. We scored 2 more points than them and the new guy was good. He was really pro material. But we weren't going to give up. I got the Quaffle and passed it to Simon who passed it to James who passed it back to me. The new guy came straight for me, he was going to steal the ball but couldn't let him, and I threw it at Sirius who hit it thinking it was a bludger. It went straight to Simon who was at the other end next to the goal posts. He threw it and he scored. Just then we heard the crowd go wild, Delilah had caught the snitch. We got on the ground and we were jumping up and down hugging each other as one big group. The Slytherin team came to us and we had to shake hands with them. The new guy stopped at me.

"You're good, almost as good as me. Nice job throwing it to the beater." He said smiling a small but noticeable smile.

"Thanks, it was just some quick thinking." I said and he moved on to the next player. Malfoy was on the team and he wouldn't even shake our hands. He just barely touched them keeping his head down. We all had huge smiles on our faces except for Sirius who was starring daggers at the new guy. I sauntered up to him and I pulled him down closer to me.

"Good game." I whispered into his ear. He smiled and picked me twirling me around.

"Good game? More like Great Game!" Sirius bellowed and he started to do a victory dance with James, Drew and Simon. I had a feeling that all the guys had been waiting to do that. Everyone around us was doubled over in laughter. They looked so funny doing this small jig and shaking their butts in the air. Even Drew, who had been looking way to serious lately was doing it with as much enthusiasm as James and Sirius.

We spent the night partying because we had beaten this so called pro chaser. We were the best, there was no hiding it now.

"I think you guys are good enough to have some scouts come and watch you play." Remus said.

"Yeah you could end up with contracts to play for England." Peter said excitedly.

"Nah, we are going to be Aurors!" Sirius said raising his wand as if it were a sword. James joined in and he took out his wand. They started to battle and then Sirius pretended to stab James in the stomach and he fell to the floor dramatically.

"Aw, Padfoot, I think you killed me mate. Say good bye to my family for me." He said before pretending to croak. Lily was playing along now, she rushed to his side.

"Oh, James…. James, please wake up, I promise I wont act like a self absorbed git anymore!" She said acting. We were all laughing as James turned pink and then he got up and started to tickle Lily who was crying out for him to stop. Professor McGonagall came in told us all to wrap it up, we had classes tomorrow.

"What a way to ruin the mood." Sirius said saying good night to me. I had to drag Lily away from James and up to the dorm.

"I think he likes me." She said in an overly girly voice.

"Ya think?" I said and we started to giggle. We went to bed getting ready for classes tomorrow. Oh Joy, double potions with the Slytherins.

In class, the professor announced that we were to have partners. I felt bad for Lily because she was paired with Malfoy. I was paired with the new kid and he didn't seem all that mad, so I didn't make a big deal of it.

"Hey." I said setting my stuff down on the table. He pulled out his cauldron and I started to cut up the ingreidients.

"So, how long have you been playing?" He asked me. I was surprised that he wanted to start a conversation.

"Uh… about 10 years?" I said guessing, its been so long I couldn't remember a time when we weren't playing for fun.

"Yeah… I've been playing for about that long too. My dad has always been pressuring me to be the best… he wants me to go pro." He said. He was very talkative, I wouldn't have thought that of him before now.

"Its not everyday we have a pro in the school." I said laughing.

"Its not everyday you meet a smart girl who is engaged before she's 17." He said. I just blushed.

"I'm not engaged… god, I hate rumors. We're just… we have never…. We like each other a lot." I said.

"Like isn't a cause for a ring." He said. I laughed.

"Yeah I know… I guess its more than like. Just wish everyone would stop assuming we are sleeping together or we are going to get married." I said sighing placing the ingredients in the cauldron.

"Well, I'm sorry I assumed. By the way, my name is Joe." He said I gave him a weird look and he laughed.

"Joe? What kind of Belgium name is that?" I asked laughing.

"My dad is Russian, its short for Joseph." He said.

"So like, Joseph Stalin?" I asked.

"No, I don't have any respect for that guy." He said and we got back to the potion.

So what team are you going to join?" I asked him after a while.

"The Belgium team. I've been watching their games since I can remember." He said and w started to talk about their strengths and weaknesses. We finally finished the potion and we sat back for the rest of the class period just talking like old friends.

We were dismissed from class and Sirius suddenly appeared next to me. He put his arm around me possessively. I gave him a weird look and waved bye to him. Sirius pulled me along.

"What are you doing?" I asked playfully. He looked kind of mad though.

"What were you doing being all chummy with him?" Sirius asked quietly and through gritted teeth.

"Are you jealous?" I asked smiling at him but he wasn't budging.

"Ash, I love you, you know that. But I don't want you to be friendly with a slytherin." He said still looking mad. I stopped now to let everyone pass. Once I was sure that everyone passed us I turned to him.

"You will not tell me what to do." I said. Anger flashed in his eyes.

"I'm just looking out for you." He said.

"No, you're trying to control me, and I am not going to let you control me… I'm not like your other girlfriends." I said walking off leaving him there standing alone. He ran back up to me.

"Ash… i…. I just don't want you to get hurt." He said pausing. I could see that it was killing him to not blow up at me.

"I'm going to tell you what I told Drew… I appreciate everything, but I can take care of myself. I'm not a poor defenseless little girl who needs you to save her for every little thing." I said trying not to sound too mad.

"I know you can take care of yourself…. Why cant you let me take care of you? Just once? You always have to take care of yourself! I thought you trusted me!"

"I do trust you… I told you that… but trust doesn't mean that I should sit here and let you be my knight in shining armour." I said.

"I just want to be the guy in this relationship… I want to be able to take care of you." He said.

"Sirius… I don't want to be in a typical relationship… you saved my life already. Isn't that enough?" I asked trying to lighten my mood. He grabbed my waist with both hands and he pulled me toward him but I kept pulling back a little. He finally got up really close to him and I had to look up to see him.

"No I'm not satisfied… I don't like being jealous and I guess I did get jealous. But only because I didn't like him," he said.

"So if I started to flirt with Remus or James you wouldn't get jealous." I said teasing him.

"Don't you dare" He said kissing the tip of my nose.


	29. Chapter 29

Joe and I hadn't talked much since potions but we didn't really need to. We would exchange friendly glances in the halls but Sirius always kept a possessive grip on me whenever Joe was near. It wasn't as if I was going to leave Sirius for Joe, we were just friendly. So when Drew and I were talking about things again I thought I would vent about Sirius' clutch on me.

"A Slytherin? Ash, aren't they the one house that is evil? Aren't we trying to avoid people who are evil." Drew said, I knew he would take Sirius' side.

"They aren't evil! And you wouldn't say that about him if you knew him." I said defending him.

"No wonder Sirius keeps being possessive around him. It sounds like you like him." He said. I didn't like him, he was just a friend.

"I don't like him… especially not like that. I mean I love…" I started to say that I loved Sirius. I was about to say that I love Sirius, because I did.

"You love…?" Drew asked raising an eyebrow. A huge smile came over my face.

"I love Sirius. I can say it and I mean it…. I love Sirius." I said laughing. I was so happy that I could finally say it because I did love Sirius. I loved him with all my heart even though he was possessive and sometimes immature. I still loved him.

"You just admitted that you love someone who isn't family… I think our therapy session for today is over. Go tell him." Drew said plucking at the grass. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran to the common room. Sirius was sitting in a chair playing wizards' chess with Remus. I giggled as I ran straight for him and jumped on his lap giving him a big long kiss. When I pulled away from him he had a surprised look on his face.

"What was that for?" He asked me. I kissed his neck making a trail up to his ear.

"I love you." I whispered and he pulled back all of a sudden and looked me in the eye. He saw the look in my eye and he kissed me. It was a hard kiss or a hungry kiss. It was a soft warm kiss that made my whole body quiver.

"Get a room." Remus said leaving the game where it was.

"You mean it?" Sirius asked.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't." I said kissing him again. This time he picked me up and whirled me around.

"She loves me! She loves me! I love this woman!" He said on the top of his lungs.

"Shhh." I said laughing at him. Almost everyone was in the common room. I was trying to shut him up but he kept yelling the same words over. I finally jumped up and kissed him to shut him up and he stopped and kissed me back.

"GET A ROOM!" I heard James shout. We both stopped and he said a charm and the words Ashleigh and Sirius in a heart appeared.

"You like that?" He asked me and I was just laughing.

"I've been saving that for you." He said giving me another kiss.

"WHAT ON EARTH?" I heard McGonagall's voice say.

"Mr. Black, Ms. Hewitt…. Come with me." She said and we followed her.

"Oh yeah, I love this." I said joking. He laughed.

"This is not funny, I am afraid I will have to give you guys detention." She said.

"Professor, this wasn't her fault. It was all my idea. She had no part in it." Sirius said trying to be my knight in shining Armour.

"Well, then you have two nights detention and she has one." She said and she left us there alone.

"Ooo, if I new loving someone was going to get me into this much trouble…" I said. He pulled me close to him and he kissed me. God, I did love him.

"I'm so glad to hear that you love me." He whispered kissing my neck, I felt like Jell-O in his hands. All I wanted to do was stay like this forever. I wanted to kiss him forever. He cupped my chin in his hands and my butterflies started to flutter outrageously.

"I love you." He said looking deep into my eyes.

"I love you too." I said and it felt so good to say it. I felt relived and like something was lifted off of my heart.

The next day at Breakfast everyone was talking about it. Even the Slytherin girls were looking at us with envy. Sirius was lapping up the attention. You wouldn't be able to see us apart and when we were together he always had his arm around me. Every time someone would come up to us and say they thought we were cute he would put his arm around me and give me a kiss. I would just roll my eyes. He was a huge attention seeker.

"you are liking this attention entirely way too much." I said after some Ravenclaw girl had approached us.

"What, I'm not allowed to?" He asked grinning his sexy grin.

"Yes you are… ONLY if you tell me that your declaration of love was a tribute to me and not your ego." I said and he looked offended.

"I can't believe you would say something like that." He said turning his back on me. I jumped on his back and he grabbed a hold of my legs and started to run across the grass.

"Put her down! Right now!" I heard Professor Flitwick say. We both blushed and said sorry before rushing off toward the Quidditch field. It was Slytherin against Ravenclaw and we were rooting for Ravenclaw. I saw Joe fly up and he winked at me when we fly by our section. Sirius saw that and he tensed up immensely. I could feel his anger. He put his arm around me and I sensed that he was trying to cover up his anger by being laid back.

"Hey baby?" I whispered to him. He looked at me with a cool expression, as if he didn't care or know what he saw.

"I love you." I whispered and gave him a kiss. He smiled and turned his head back to the game. The game was exciting, combine Derek's moves against Joe's and you had a nice game. It was wrong when the Slytherin beater had hit Derek in the head. He fell toward the ground but the new Keeper abandoned his goal to save him. I saw hesitation on Joe's part but he scored regardless. Although Derek was relived he was pissed that Marion would abandon the goals to save his butt. I felt bad for Marion until Derek gave her a hug. I knew he was grateful. Slytherin won the game.

"Can you believe that arse, Joseph is it?" Sirius said to James.

"What do you mean ass?" I asked.

"He scored that goal when Marion was saving Derek. I mean she was saving a life. I would have had the decency to not score." Sirius said.

"And that is why you aren't a chaser." I said. James laughed until he saw the anger on Sirius' face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"It means that if you were a chaser then you would have done the same. I mean if you were in the pros…." I was saying.

"But this isn't the pros! This is Hogwarts." Sirius said through gritted teeth. I knew he was getting mad but I couldn't help it. He was wrong, I would have done the same thing.… wouldn't I? I asked myself.

"But he was trained as if it were the pros." I said.

"Why are you defending him?" He asked me.

"I'm just saying…" I started.

"Saying what? Do you like him?" He asked me. How could ask that? He knows that I love him and no one else.

"Why would you even ask that? You know I love you. I love you more than anything and you have the nerve to ask me if I like him because I said a few kind words about someone you haven't taken the time to get to know. You automatically assume the worst of people." I said stalking off. Lily was following right behind me. I guess Hogwart's star couple had its problems too.

"Ash?" Lily said after a while. We were far from the guys and I was calming down.

"What?" I asked taking a deep breath.

"Do you like him?" Lily asked. I turned to face her.

"No, I don't like him. Why does every one think I do?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"I don't know, it just seems that you are picking fights with Sirius over this guy." Lily said shrugging.

"I don't mean to. I swear I don't. its just he keeps judging people without even getting to know them." I said pacing the hall.

"Ok, so you don't like him. But why start a fight over something as small as that?" Lily asked.

"Because." I said pouting. I was looking at my ring. God, why did he have such a strong hold on me?

"So… are we going to the common room?" She asked me and I fought back the urge to smile.

"fine." I said slowly walking back to the common room. Sirius was in there with the other guys. They all left him sitting there alone. I didn't want to make the first move but he had been making the first move for a while now. Not many people were in the common room, they were smart by staying outside to enjoy the nice day.

"I guess we should talk…" I said

"I guess so." He said still sitting in the same spot. I moved to get in front of him.

"Look, I don't like him, not like that. But he could be a friend and I don't want you to get mad every time I talk to him." I said.

"I don't like him. There is just something about him that I can't stand. I don't know what it is but I don't like him. I'm just trying to…."

"I know, your trying to protect me." I said finishing his sentence. He nodded.

"I know you hate hearing that because you are so independent but its true. I can't help but try to protect you." He said.

"I don't want us to fight every time I say hi to Joe or something. So how about we just stop all together." I said.

"Are you saying you want to break up with me?" He asked.

"No, no, no, no, no, never. I'm saying that you stop being jealous and talking shit about him and I'll stop defending him." I said. He looked down at his hands.

"All right. Deal." He said and I extended my hand. He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto his lap.

"No shaking… a kiss." He said before kissing me and making it wet.

"Ewww!" I screamed when he started to lip my chin and face. I pushed him away and wiped my face.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." I told him before licking his cheek. He laughed and started to tickle me.


	30. Chapter 30

I was making funny faces at the kid in the joke shop. He was making them back, he was good, better than me. We were at our first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. I was in the joke shop with Sirius and Remus. James was off with Lily. He had changed so much, he rarely spent time with his friends. Although the whole Maurader group wasn't spending a ton of time together.

"Having fun?" I heard a voice ask behind me. I turned around with a particularly funny facial expression. It was Joe, oh god.

"Yeah. Tons." I said turning back to the little kid but he was gone. I looked around the shop for Sirius but I couldn't find him anywhere. Joe stood there awkwardly for a bit.

"How have you been?" I asked making polite conversation.

"I've been ok. I wish we could play more games though." He said.

"I know what you mean." I said and I spotted Remus. He came over to save me, at least I hope he did.

"Hey Ash, everyone is leaving to go to get some butterbeers, you coming?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." I said.

"Well, I guess you got to go. I'll see you later." He said.

"Yeah. Bye." I said and I ran off with Remus. When we left the joke shop Remus gave a small smile.

"I thought you might want someone to come and get you." He said.

"You read my mind. I don't want to fight with Sirius anymore. It gets so boring." I said. He chuckled and we sat with the group drinking butterbeers. I was still amazed that you could drink butterbeers at this age. You could only drink them in America when you were 18.

"Why did you leave me at the joke shop?" I asked Sirius who was passing out the butterbeers.

"Looked like you were busy," He said.

"I was just playing with some little kid." I said laughing but he wasn't laughing. Which meant he saw me talking to Joe, hopefully he wouldn't mention it. I heard James tell some joke and everybody laughed. We all just sat back and had a good time. Sirius lightened up after a while and he became the man that I love. We were soon ushered out by Professor McGonagall, and we had to head back to school.

"And we were just starting to have fun." Emma said.

"I've been having fun this whole time." I said holding onto Sirius' hand. He pulled away slightly and he smiled and ran up to James. Lily was at my side talking to Dorcas. When Dorcas had left with her other friends I turned to Lily.

"Did you see that?" I asked her.

"See what?" She asked with confusion on her face.

"Sirius… I went to hold his hand and he pulled away and ran to James." I said I was hurt, why would he do that? Was it because I said hi to Joe. This was starting to get ridiculous.

"He probably just wanted to talk to James or something… I mean its not like they have been hanging out a lot." Lily said. Maybe she was right, I felt bad that I was pulling him away from his friends. He needed his friends just as much as I needed mine. I wasn't going to get mad at him, I couldn't get mad. We went to dinner that night and Sirius sat next to me giving me a small kiss on the cheek. He probably did just want to hang out with his friends.

The next day I was walking with Lily and we were heading to the library to finish our potions essay. We talking and laughing about the prank that James and Sirius had pulled on Filch again. They had made his ears look like Dumbo's ears but they also got caught which meant that they had to spend last night in detention with a pissed of Filch. When we got into the library we saw a bunch of Slytherin girls were in a big circle. We had to maneuver our way around them. We sat down at a table and started to finish our essay. After a few minutes I noticed all the girls leaving and Joe was coming toward me. He looked horrible, he had a bloody lip and a black eye. What had happened to him? He didn't even look at me. He walked straight past me and went to the bookshelf that was behind us.

"I need to see if they got a book." I muttered leaving, Lily didn't even know I had left she was so into her essay. I walked up to him.

"What happened?" I asked him in a whisper.

"Nothing." He said turning his back to me.

"Its not nothing. What happened? Who beat you up?" I asked him.

"No one beat me up, Ok…. why don't you and your boyfriend just leave me the hell alone?" He said before turning on his heel and leaving. My boyfriend and me? Oh god, he didn't. I grabbed my stuff and said goodbye to Lily. He was going to explain what happened.

"Sirius Orion Black!" I yelled when I came up to him in the hall. He was with James and his other friends. He turned to me and smiled, he was about to give me a kiss but I pulled away from him.

"looks like you're in trouble Padfoot." Remus said and they all left. I dragged Sirius to the Room of Requirement, I didn't want anyone to hear this.

"What is going on?" He asked me.

"Did you hit Joe?" I asked him.

"What? You have got to be kidding me! I haven't seen him once today and he still manages to get between us." Sirius said kicking a pillow that was on the floor.

"The only reason he keeps coming between us is because you keep letting him." I said through gritted teeth.

"No, I'm not the one who keeps bringing him up and talking to him and defending him." He said.

"No you aren't but are you the one who keeps insulting him, making fun of him and hitting him." I said.

"I DIDN'T HIT HIM! What did he tell you? He is probably trying to get us apart so he can make his move. You don't see the look in his eye. I do, it's the same look I had when I first met you." He said.

"I don't notice it, because I don't care about it. You're the only one I notice, you know that. I don't care about any other guy. So stop getting so jealous, it's really getting tiring." I said sitting on one of the pillows on the floor. He sat next to me.

"We fight a lot." He said after a long silence.

"Hmm, some people say it mixes things up a little." I said laughing. He laughed a little too.

"How are we going to keep doing this?" He asked.

"I guess we're not perfect. We both have to work on a few things." I said.

"Yeah… ok, I promise I wont say anything about him ever again." He said.

"And I'll stop approaching him and talking to him, but I might still say hi, I cant blow people off… And baby you seriously need to stop thinking about him…. I'm starting to get jealous that i'm not on your mind." I said teasing him. I loved fighting with him and then making up with him.

"But he's just so darn irresistible." He said in a girly voice. I laughed and we sat on the pillows on the ground for a while making out. I loved him, he is too good to be true.

It was close to Christmas break and Sirius and I hadn't gotten into one fight since the beginning of November. It felt good not to fight. Lily was going home for Christmas Break and so was Potter. Black was going to go home to the Potters but he kept changing his mind.

"What are you going to do for Christmas break?" He asked Drew and myself.

"I don't know, we don't really have anywhere to go. I guess we're gonna stay here." I said looking to Drew. He nodded and I shrugged.

"Why don't you stay at my house?" James asked.

"I'm going to stay here. Ash can go though." He said. I didn't understand him lately. Even back home he didn't back off this much. And he would never let me go somewhere unfamiliar without him. But I guess the Potter's house isn't unfamiliar. He probably wanted to be there for Emma, they seemed to be getting closer and closer.

"would your parents mind?" I asked him because I wanted to spend Christmas with Sirius.

"No, they love you. They said you're like the daughter they never had. My mom has always wanted a girl." I laughed at that.

"Well, they are awesome people." I said.

"Come on, baby, come to his house." Sirius said giving me a puppy doggy face.

"Ok, I'll go." I said. Sirius pulled me closer to him by the waist. I leaned into his chest and he put his arm around me. I would love to spend Christmas with Sirius. And when we got to leave for Christmas Break I was so happy.

We had arrived at the Potter's house at night. Mrs. Potter had stayed home to cook us a welcome home dinner. I loved her cooking it was so good.

"Welcome!" She said giving each one of us a hug. I welcomed her hug, it had been such a long time since I have hugged someone in a motherly kind of way.

"Thank you for inviting us." I said sitting at the table next to Sirius.

"You are always welcome here." She said and we started to eat. Then we all went to bed but I couldn't sleep. Some thing was bugging me in my head. But I couldn't pinpoint it. I heard one of the boards creak out side my door. My whole body tensed up. Where was my wand? I thought but I couldn't find it and the door opened. I stopped breathing, I didn't know what to do.

"Ash?" I heard Sirius say. I started to breath again and I was laughing at myself on the inside.

"yeah?" I said sitting up in bed. He came over and sat on the bed next to me.

"I couldn't sleep." He said.

"Me either." I said sitting up fully. We sat there in each other's arms talking about nothing in particular but talking about everything at the same time. Occasionally we would kiss and once he placed his hand up my shirt but I wasn't ready for that and he understood.

"I don't want to do anything you aren't comfortable with." He said.

"Good, because I wouldn't let you." I said laughing. He kissed me again and then I kicked him out of my room around 4 in the morning.

The Holiday was going great so far it was the night before Christmas and Mrs. Potter had made a wonderful dinner once again. We sat by the tree and we sang Christmas Carols and we ate candy canes. Peppermint, my favorite. And they told us to go to bed, I couldn't wait to fall asleep, I was worn out. Earlier that day we had practiced some Quidditch and Mr. Potter was surprised that I was so good and then James told him about some of the saves that Drew had done. Up until dinner they talked about Quidittich and Hogwarts and the new player, even though Sirius didn't join in on that conversation. But in the end we went to bed and I fell fast asleep.


	31. Chapter 31

I woke up to the sound of the floorboards creaking. I instinctively reached for my wand at the bedside table. Ever since that night when Sirius came in here I had decided to keep my wand near by at all times. I heard another creak of the floorboards and then it was gone. It was probably just someone getting a drink or something. I thought and I tried to fall back asleep but I couldn't. my stomach was all in knots. Then I heard a yell and I jumped out of bed. I opened the door and there was a death eater right in front of me. I screamed and I kneed him in the groin running for Sirius or James or even the Potters. There were flashes of light coming from the Potters room and Sirius and James came out of their room with their wands. I was hitting people knocking them over to get to them. But a couple of strong arms wrapped around my hands and held them down at my side with force.

"STOP!" I heard a voice boom through out the house. It was that same eerie voice that was in my dreams. Sirius and James were bond up in ropes from a few of the Death Eaters wands. Mrs. Potter and Mr. Potter were dragged out of their room, they were both bond too.

"Take them downstairs." He said motioning to me, Sirius and James. James was yelling curse words and profanity and I was struggling. I couldn't let these people die. Surely he would kill them just for the fun of it. The death eaters took us downstairs and I tried to remember some of the karate moves that my father had taught me. I elbowed the guy in the stomach stepped on his foot, punched him in the nose and kneed him in the groin. I was free so I moved my hands and all the death eaters including Sirius and James flew against the wall. Some of them were knocked unconscious giving Sirius and James a chance to escape from their binds.

"I knew you would get free." I heard Voldermort say.

"Of course." I said trying to be cocky and cover my fear. He just chuckled.

"Join me… join me and my followers and I can guarantee you power." He said.

"What makes you think I want power?" I asked him.

"Because you have been studying extra hard, learning more things than required. I used to do the same thing when I was at Hogwarts… because I wanted Power." He said.

"I'll never join you. I don't take orders very well." I said spitting on his feet. He looked down and then back up at me. He looked as if he was going to kill me.

"YOU WILL OBEY ME!" He said and I got a sense of dejvu. I shivered and I was trying to hide it.

"NO!" I said defiantly.

"You will or I will kill everyone you love." He said and I looked down to the floor. All I could think of was Drew, Sirius, James, Lily and Remus. I loved them all and I didn't want them to die. Sirius saw the look in my eye.

"Ash No!" He said. I looked at him and Voldermort flicked his wand and Sirius fell to the ground with pain on his face.

"Please… don't do anything… I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt him." I said sighing when I saw Sirius stand back up the pain still evident on his face.

"Of course you will." He said and I remembered my dream and I knew what was coming but I didn't want to feel that pain.

"Expeliarmus!" I yelled and His wand flew from his hands.

"Wand," He said with his hand an it came flying back. I froze it in mid air and he couldn't touch it without coming closer to me. With my other hand at my side I slyly loosened the binds on Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Mr. Potter winked at me and Voldermort came closer to me. I was ready, I got into fighting stance.

"You think you can hurt me?" He said laughing an evil laugh.

"I think I can stop you." I said snatching the wand from mid air.

"Just like your parents did?" He said. I could feel the anger boiling up in me and I wanted to kill him.

"My parents died like heroes." I said.

"No, they begged for their lives to be spared. They said they would give you up if I didn't kill them." He said with a small smile on his face.

"LIAR!" I screamed and with full force I pushed him against the wall without even touching him. He flinched but regained control of himself. I then threw him across the hallway and he hit the other wall. And I kept doing this until James and Sirius had completely untied Mr. and Mrs. Potter. But then Voldermort grabbed his wand from my hand when I got too close and he flicked it while muttering something. I felt every muscle in my body flinch and burn and twist every which way. I was breathing hard and my whole body was shaking in pain. He lifted it off and I felt a bit of relief until he started it again. Keep fighting, I kept telling myself but it wasn't working. All I could think about was Drew and Sirius, and the Potters. I fell to the ground in one big heap when he finally stopped and I couldn't move. He just left me there and went to the others who were in the hall bond again by the death eaters who had recovered.

"I think its time I taught you all a lesson in life." He said and I saw him lift his wand. All my strength was restored when I saw a flash of him standing over my parents, ready to kill them. I got up and I ran at him. He stopped me and I fell back to the ground.

"I thought I was finished with you." He said. I shook my head and I felt the pain again. I can stand it, I thought and I tried to get up and fight through the pain but I couldn't. Sirius knocked some Death eaters down the stairs and James tried to help his parents. They were finally free again and Mr. Potter was armed and he turned to Voldermort to fight him.

"Run, I'll fight him off, just go! Go to Hogwarts!" Mr. Potter yelled. Voldermort was surprised by his attack that he forgot about me. Sirius helped me up and we ran to the fireplace. James hesitated and looked back up at his parents. I knew how he had felt. T had happened to me almost a year ago.

"Just go." I told him because we couldn't fight these people. We needed help. I started to stun some death eaters and Sirius was turning them too. James got in and Sirius told me to go next.

"You go! Trust me!" I said and I pushed him in while yelling the destination for him. I heard a yell and I couldn't let James loose his parents. Not now. I ran back up to help and I saw Mr. Potter on the floor stunned. Mrs. Potter was still battling some death eaters.

"Just you and me now." He said to Mr. Potter. I whispered something and hit Mr. Potter on the head. He started to disappear and Voldermort looked at me. I slid Potter on the ground past Voldermort so he wouldn't be able to touch him.

"Always coming back for more." He said getting ready to use the crucio curse on me again. I deflected it this time and it hit him. He didn't even flinch though.

"Go Ash, leave!" I heard Mrs. Potter say before she was stunned my Voldermort.

"Why didn't you just kill her? Going soft?" I asked trying to get him mad. If he was mad he might make mistake.

"No, I'll her. I just want to focus on you right now." He said. I hit her on the head with a disillusionment charm too and then I moved her around the house and down the stairs to lie on the couch. I had to keep up a shield that I had learned from a 7th year charms book.

"You're good…. But not good enough." He said and I had the feeling that he was going to break through and try to kill me.

"Avada…" But he couldn't finish because a flash of light hit him. I turned to see who it was and it was Sirius. he had thrown a stunning spell at Voldermort. Dumbledore was right behind him. As soon as Voldermort saw Dumbledore he apparated out of here. I went to Mr. Potter who was still under the disillusionment charm. I undid it and collapsed on the ground. I was so tired and my whole body was screaming with pain. Sirius came rushing to me and held my head up.

"Wonderful timing huh?" He said and I laughed and then I cried out in pain because it hurt to laugh.

"Where is Mrs. Potter?" Dumbledore asked after he had checked on Mr. Potter.

"Downstairs on the couch, she is under an disillusionment charm," I said when he looked at me with confusion. Obviously he entered the house and passed the couch. He swiftly rushed down the stairs.

"Thank, I guess you are my knight in shining armor." I said and I felt my mind drifting into darkness.

I woke up the next morning in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. What a wonderful Christmas I thought as I sat up in bed. My muscle and bones still ached and my head was pounding. Sirius was in the bed next to me. The nurse came rushing over.

"We should start making this look more like my room with all the time I spend in here." I joked but she wasn't laughing. She kept her mouth shut and left me there alone in the quiet. Drew and Dumbledore walked in.

"Why is that whenever we leave Hogwarts we get attacked?" I asked him and he just smiled.

"Obviously there is someone here leaking info about you going off grounds." Drew said.

"Yeah, I think there is." Dumbledore said.

"Are the Potters ok?" I asked.

"Yes, James is with them now. They only suffered minor injuries, you really saved there lived last night." He said. I looked at my hand and I saw a cut across my palm, I didn't even know where it came from.

"Well, I didn't want James to go through what we went through." I said tears in my eyes. I still kept having visions of him standing over my parents laughing as he killed them with a curse.

"Now he wont, and I am sure he is thankful." Dumbledore said.

"Ash, I'm sorry. I should have been there. I never dreamed that he would attack you at the Potters'." He said and I saw a pained expression on his face. He was beating himself up over this.

"Don't worry. Its all over now." I said hugging him.


	32. Chapter 32

Dumbeldore forbid us to spend any time outside of Hogwarts with the exception of the Hogsmeade weekends. I didn't mind because I never wanted to see Voldermort again. Dumbledore had instructed Sirius and I to stay in the hospital wing until he said we could leave. And he didn't give us a date even when we asked three different times… he always avoided that question. Sirius and I were sitting on the same bed playing exploding snap until the nurse came and took it away. Then I took out some cards and I taught him out to play black jack. He was good at it too, he kept beating me.

"Ok… ok, you win again. I swear, I can't bet against you anymore." I said.

"One more time, If you win then you can have that Eric Devlin poster but if I win then you have to give me a kiss…. And it has to be when the nurse comes by." He said and he knew that I hated kissing in public. I turned red but I agreed anyway. I got a 10 and he got a 5 and then I was dealt an Ace.

"YES!" I yelled and I started to do a dance on the bed. He grabbed my by the knees and I fell on top of him. We started to laugh and the nurse came back out.

"Do I have to separate you two? Be quiet other people are trying to rest." She said. And we quietly laughed at that.

"You have to give me your poster!" I sang in his ear. He shook his head and started to tickle me but then we were separated because I had screamed. He was placed all the way across the hospital wing until every last patient left. Then he snuck back over to me.

"Sirius, you're such a little kid." I said when he was pretending to be a shark under my bed.

"Yeah but you love that in me right." He said laughing.

"No, I only love you cause your looks." I said rolling my eyes.

"Oh, I'm going to get you!" He said jumping on the bed.

"Okay, okay… so I like your butt too." I said and he started to tickle me. We had already spent 2 days in the hospital wing and Dumbledore still hasn't come back to tell us if we could leave or not yet.

"I want to leave!" I said after while.

"Then lets leave." He said smirking.

"We can't leave… Dumbledore said we cant." I said laying back on the pillow. He lay down next to me and then after a while he pinched me.

"OW! Why did you do that?" I asked and then I pinched him.

"Ow…ow…. Your evil." He said when I kept pinching him. I sat on top of him and I kept pinching him.

"I see you guys are resorting to violence to get out of here." Dumbledore said. He had appeared out of nowhere.

"When do we get out of here?" I asked him.

"Do you feel better?" He asked.

"Yeah, we have been since we got here." Sirius said and Dumbledore looked to me and I nodded. I was feeling great. I just wanted to get out of here so I could go on with life. He excused us and we ran the whole way to the common room. Everyone was still on Christmas break so no one was really there except Drew but he was off with Emma. James wasn't there either.

"So its just us huh?" I said and we sat down on the nearest couch.

"I guess so… darn." He said snapping his fingers.

"Shut up." I said laughing and playfully pushing his shoulder.

"Make me." He said daringly. I smiled and kissed him to shut him up.

When Christmas break was over everyone came back, including James who had spent the last two nights with his parents. Lily had heard about the attack and the first person she went to talk to was James. She really did care about him; they would end up married again.

"God, James are you ok?" She asked rushing over to him. Ever since that night James hadn't looked or talked to me. I wouldn't blame him though I would hate me too. I mean I was the reason his parents almost died. James looked up at her and nodded. I could see the pain in his face. He was probably agonizing over what had happened and why he didn't do more. I knew what he was thinking because I was thinking the same thing when my parents died. Why couldn't I stay and help them? Why did she have to push us out of the house? I was so mad at her for not letting us help her. We could have helped and if we did she would probably be alive today. But then I wouldn't have met all these wonderful people. I was playing with a loose thread that was on the couch. Remus sat next to me.

"Are you ok?" He asked me.

"Yeah of course. You know me." I said smiling. It was a fake smile but I tried.

"You don't sound ok." He said. Everyone around us was talking to James or Sirius. Remus was paying attention to me, trying to talk to me. And I didn't know what to say, did I trust him enough to confide in him?

"No, I'm fine… it wasn't a big deal." I said pulling at the tread.

"I don't believe you." He said. I laughed.

"Ok, I'm not that great." I said.

"That's not what I heard, you saved everyone's life." He said.

"I didn't save anyone's life… if anything I put them all in danger. I never should have stayed there." I said shaking my head. Remus' face looked shocked and he placed his hand on top of mine.

"Ash, you saved them, whether you want to admit it or not. If it weren't for you they would probably all be dead." Remus said.

"If it weren't for me, they wouldn't even have gone through it." I said. I knew there were tears in my eyes and there was a big lump in my throat.

"Don't think like that… hey can you teach me how to do that Disillusionment charm?" Remus said. I was sure that he didn't know what else to say. After a while I went up to my room to go to bed. I was too tired to think and I wanted to get some rest for class tomorrow. I fell asleep as soon as I lay down.

"_NOOOOO! Leave her alone!" I heard a mans voice say. And then I saw a woman who looked exactly like Emma but older on the floor crying. _

"_You shut up! You're next!" I heard Voldermort hiss. My stomach twisted and churned. I suddenly felt sick and I wanted to throw up. I wanted to help the woman on the floor who was crying in pain. He was torturing her. _

"_She doesn't know anything. Neither of us do." The man said. And then I saw a flash of green light and they were both dead. They had the same expression my mom had on her face when I found her. _

I woke up and raced to the bathroom and I threw up in the toilet. I kept throwing up until nothing was left and my body was just heaving. Then I started to shake and shiver. Something wasn't right, who were those people and why was I having a dream about their death? She looked like Emma, could it be Emma's parents who had disappeared a little over six months ago? Could Voldermort have gotten them and been torturing them all this time. I shuddered to think about the answer.

"Ash?" I heard Drews voice and I looked around wildly. The mirror. I thought as I picked it up and looked into it. Drew looked just as bad as I did.

"Did you…" But I didn't have to finish the sentence because he nodded and I saw tears. It must be horrible to be in his position. How could he tell his girlfriend that her parents were tortured and killed?

"Do you think its true?" I asked. He shrugged and told me to meet him in the common room. I pulled on a sweater and went down there.

"What do we do?" He asked.

"I don't know. We don't even know if it's true." I said.

"If it is and we are seeing the future, we have to do something about it." He said.

"If we are seeing the future how do we know it wasn't tonight or even last night or something?" I asked him.

"I don't know but we can't sit here and not do anything." He said.

"We'll talk to Dumbledore." I said.

"What's he going to do? Nothing, its up to us." He said

"Drew, we don't even know where they are. How are we supposed to do anything?" I asked him.

"We have to do something." He said again and I nodded. We did have to do something. I pulled him out into the hall and we went straight to Dumbledore's office, we didn't even know if he would be in there but we had to do something. Professor McGonagall was in the hall with him. We both stopped so we could listen.

"Albus, they are dead, Mad eye found them this afternoon. What are we going to tell the girl?" She said to him.

"We tell her the truth." He said simply.

"We can't keep doing this Albus, we are losing order members left and right. We almost lost the Potters. We lost the Vances' and Johnson had a close call with a death eater this afternoon." She said. I looked to Drew but he had his head down.

"We are training more and more people, we can't just bring anyone in though, and we have to be able to trust them." Dumbledore said. I heard McGonagall sigh.

"Johnson suggested that we bring in some sixth years'." She said.

"I absolutely forbid it. It's bad enough that we are taking 7th years right after they graduate. I don't want to put any one younger through all this."

"The ones that he suggested have already been through a lot." She said quietly I could barely hear her.

"Which is why they need to be more like kids while they can." He said and I heard a touch of sadness in his tone. Drew started to pull me away but I wanted to hear more. I wanted to learn more. I was definitely going to join the order once I graduated. I had to, it was the only way. We got back to the common room and Drew wasn't saying anything.

"I'm going to join the Order." I said after a long silence.

"No you aren't." He said firmly.

"Yes, I am. I am going to join once I graduate. I am going to fight against him and I am going to kill him." I said.

"Ash, you join, you die. You heard them…. All those people dieing or almost dieing." He said.

"I don't care. I want to fight for something worth fighting for." I said.

"I don't want you to die." He said in a small voice.

"I'm not going to tell you that I wont and I'm not going to tell you that I am. But if I do die, I hope I die with honor." I said. He looked at me for the longest time.

"I wont let you do it alone… if you join, I join." He said and we pinky swore that we would be in the Order together.


	33. Chapter 33

It's been three weeks since Christmas and James still hasn't talked to me or even looked at me. I felt sorry for Sirius who was stuck in the middle. Lily was also torn between us but she kept sticking near me.

"I know its not your fault, I have no idea what he is talking about." Lily kept saying over and over each time Potter would ignore me. I was tired of hearing that over and over.

"Lily, it was my fault. Nothing would have happened if I wasn't there."

"But you also saved their lives!" She said desperately.

"I didn't save anyone's life. I wish people would stop saying that." I said in a small voice before walking away. Drew was sitting in the corner all alone.

"Hey." I said coming up to him. He nodded.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"She blames me for what happened to her parents." He said looking down at his hands as if they had the blood of the Vance's on them. I sat next to him and I hugged him. I knew exactly how he felt.

"I know what you mean, I feel like you do everyday." I said and he just nodded.

"Did you guys break up?" I asked him. He nodded slowly. We sat there in silence for what seemed like forever.

"Sometimes I feel as if I could go back in time I would never have let mom push us away. I would have stayed and fought even if it meant me dieing." He said finally looking at me.

"I feel the same." I said. We started to talk about what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. We had left the common room deep in conversation; we were going to go to the room of requirement.

"So I was reading in that book that Dumbledore had given us and there is this legend that there are going to be these two witches who are going to be the most powerful in Wicca history." I said, he looked very interested and I pulled the book off the shelf and handed it to him. He was flipping through the pages while I was concentrating on picking up a pillow, it didn't work so easily when I wasn't putting emotion into it.

"This is amazing… do you think we are those people?" He asked. His mood seemed to go up a lot.

"I don't know… we can try to find out." I said and he raised his eyebrows.

"In the book it says we would be the most powerful when we stand together… here grab my hand and we can try to throw that pillow against the bookcase." I said and he grabbed my hand and we stood there raising our hands and then the pillow flew against the bookcase with such force that the whole room shook and we flew backwards against the wall. I had seen an orb of blue light surround us as tings around the room started to fly around hitting it but never touching us.

"Ok, I'm just a little scared." I said ducking even though the book didn't come near me at all. Derek and I let go of each other and the blue orb disappeared and the books were still flying and a few pelted us.

"OW!" He yelled rubbing his head. I started to rub my head too.

"Oh, man, what was that?" He asked cracking his neck. I laughed and looked at the state of the room. Books were all over the floor and the pillows were ripped. It looked as if a train had come through here.

"I don't know, but that was awesome!" I said and we started to laugh and roll around on the ground occasionally throwing books and pillows at each other. Which only made us laugh even more, pretty soon my side was hurting and I could hardly breath.

"Ouch, my… my side…" I said between breaths. And then Drew stopped laughing for a second.

"Man, laughing is like a drug." He said trying not to laugh and then I heard him snort. I started laughing all over again. This continued on until we realized we had two minutes to get to the common room before curfew. We ran and laughed the whole way; it was definitely hard to do both at once. We barged into the common room just as it hit 9 and then we fell on the floor laughing. We couldn't stop laughing, it was like one of those times when you laugh so hard you feel light headed and then every little thing in the world seemed funny even though it wasn't. We got up because everyone was staring at us and we went to the corner and started to laugh again.

"What's so funny over here?" Sirius asked coming toward us. We just shook our heads and started to laugh again.

"It started off about something real stupid and now we cant stop laughing." I said after a while. Sirius gave us a weird look; he laughed and then went back to James. Drew and I finally stopped laughing and we sat there in silence.

"So, do you think that orby thingy could hold off anything?" I asked.

"I don't know. It's kind of like a force field. Do you think we can protect other people within that force field?" He asked.

"We could find out…" I said looking toward Sirius and Lily.

"I don't know, I don't really want anyone knowing." He said.

"Why not? Oh! We could ask Dumbledore to be a guinea pig." I said raising my eyebrows.

"What if we hurt him?" He asked.

"What if we don't? Too many what ifs, how about we go to bed and then in the morning ask him." I said and Drew nodded reluctantly. We headed to bed and I fell asleep hoping against everything that I didn't have any nightmares.

Class the next day wasn't all that great. In Transfiguration Professor McGonagall had assigned partners for the next two weeks and my partner was James. I sat next to him and he still wouldn't look at me.

"James… James I'm sorry I never meant for anything to happen. I should have known that something would happen." I said quietly after McGonagall had passed us. James still wasn't saying anything.

"It's my fault and if I were you… I wouldn't forgive me either. I can't even forgive myself for being the reason I lost my parents… and I promise you that I will never be around you or your parents outside of school again…" I said and I heard him sigh.

"I don't blame you…. I blame Voldermort. I just, I was so scared that I would lose them or Sirius or even you. I didn't know what to do. But I do know what I am going to do… I'm going to fight him." He said.

"Well, we'll be on the same team. So are we friends?" I asked him. He nodded and smiled. It was the first time I had seen him smile since Christmas.

"Great, now lets get back to work." I said concentrating on turning the rock into a feather. It was review from last year. Once we had finished we were excused. Sirius came up behind me and kissed my neck.

"I'm glad that you and James made up because I hated being in the middle." He whispered in my ear.

"No worries." I said.

"I want to give something to you." He said and he led me back to the common room and up to his dormitory. Inside was a huge mess; there were clothes all over and things just thrown on the ground. These guys were pigs.

"Meow." I heard and my head whipped around so fast I got whiplash. I held my neck and Sirius was standing there holding a bright blue kitten. It looked so cute; it had green eyes and bright blue fur.

"So its blue, Peter accidentally turned it a different color. But I'm sure his fur will grow out and he will be orange again." Sirius said shrugging.

"But you hate kittens." I said holding the baby in my arms, I loved them but the dog in Sirius hates him.

"I don't hate them, we just don't get along at times." He said lifting up his robes to reveal some scratches and scars.

"Ooo, baby! It looks like you guys have been fighting, and the cat won." I said laughing. He just pushed me slightly and laughed harder. The kitten was purring loudly and I just kept petting it.

"Come on, before a prefect catches you in here." He said and we left his room. In the common room I was stroking the kitty's head and I was trying to think of a name.

"Does it have a name?" I asked him.

"I thought maybe Devils Spawn." He said and I hit him.

"Oh my god, you're evil, how about Dylan?" I asked and the cat meowed again.

"Dylan it is." He said petting it but Dylan a little cat roar. He quickly pulled his hand back and I laughed.

"He doesn't like you." I said laughing.

"I knew I should have gotten he other one." He said shaking his head.

"No way, I love Dylan!" I said giving him a kiss on the top of his head. Then I kissed Sirius.

"Thank you, I love him… and I love you too." I said kissing him again. Dylan jumped to the ground and started to explore. Sirius and I had to go to Supper and I needed to talk to Dumbledore. At supper I ate with Drew and Sirius sat next to me but we didn't talk much. He was busy talking to Remus and James. Every now and then we would glance up at the head table and see Dumbledore eating, we would have to wait until after dinner before we could talk to him.

"Should we talk to him tonight?" I asked Drew. He had some food in his mouth so all he could do was nod.

"I'll go and get him." I said leaving before Drew could change his mind. Dumbledore was finished eating when I came up to him.

"How are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm doing ok Professor. May I speak to you in private please?" I asked him and we went to his office. Drew followed us and we sat down in his office. He poured himself some tea and offered us some water or pumpkin juice. He knew about our allergies.

"No thank you… what we wanted to ask you was… you see last night we discovered that we could…" I couldn't find the right words. Drew touched my arm to shut me up.

"We kind of made this type of force field. We were just wondering how strong it was and we wanted to know if you could kind of do an experiment to help us understand more about it." Drew said.

"What kind of experiment are we talking about?" He asked us.

"Well, we wanted to know if we could protect someone else with us and how strong it was. So we were wondering if you could throw your strongest stuff at us and also if we could try and include you in the field." I said.

"Ok." He said and we went ahead with the experiment. It turns out that the field was very strong and we could protect him along with ourselves.

"Thanks Professor." I said when we had left. My body was shaking because we had used so much power and I was so tired.


	34. Chapter 34

Drew ended up going out with another girl in the year below us. They were a cute couple but they weren't as cute as Emma and him. And Emma still hadn't forgiven him and I had a feeling that she never would. Sirius and the Mauraders were spending more time together and I didn't mind at all because I was spending more time with Lily. Things between Sirius and me were very uneventful. But I loved him and whenever we were together I could feel it I would never leave him.

"So you have detention tonight?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, stupid potions teacher." I muttered. I had messed up on my potion and it ended up boiling over and covering the entire classroom in icky green smelly gook. The Professor had given me detention with Joe because he was my partner. It was because we weren't talking that we were failing miserably at Potions.

"Well, good luck." She said leaving me there near the entrance to the dungeon. I stuck my tongue out at her. Sirius wasn't too happy that I was spending detention with Joe but he tried so hard not to how it that I didn't get mad at him.

"Good evening." I said as I entered the dungeon going straight for his desk.

"You and Mr. Kaplan will be cleaning all of this off without magic." He said handing us buckets. I hated the smell of all this gook but I couldn't say no. I nodded and held my breath and started to clean. The Professor left us to it and we cleaned in silence. I had no problem with the silence.

"So, how was your Christmas?" He asked and I couldn't decide whether he was being mean or it was a completely innocent question.

"It was… fun." I said in case it was a mean question.

"So are you and Sirius still together?" He asked. I felt a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah and as happy as ever." I said.

"That's great…. He doesn't deserve you." He said dropping his sponge in the bucket.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"He doesn't deserve you… you can do so much better." He said coming toward me.

"Back off." I said backing up. He stopped.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what it is but no other girl has had this effect on me." He said looking into my eyes.

"You're a great guy but I love Sirius… I'm sorry." I said.

"Why would you be sorry? Unless you really didn't love him and you liked me." He said coming closer. This time I didn't tell him to stop. He touched my hand and I pulled it away.

"Seriously, you need to back off. I love Sirius." I said.

"But you can love me." He said and he came close to my face. I pushed him back and he slipped in the gook and fell to the ground.

"I told you to BACK THE FUCK OFF!" I said yelling that last part. My heart was pounding and I felt sick to my stomach.

"All I want is for you to see that you can love me too…" He said and then he took out his wand.

"Imperio!" Joe said holding his wand at me and I didn't have time to dodge it. Although it didn't feel bad, I was expecting pain but I felt nice and warm. I felt like all my worries and thoughts were drifting away. I felt extremely relaxed and happy. Then I heard a vice enter my head. _Kiss me_… It said. I leaned forward but then another voice came into my head. Why? I don't like you. So I pulled back. _Kiss me_… I heard the same voice again. I stood there without moving being torn in half by two demands. And then I felt his lips on mine. He was kissing me and I couldn't stop him. How could I stop him? I tried to lift my arm but it wasn't working, I needed to get away. I didn't want to be kissing him. I pulled away making my legs hurt because they wouldn't move.

"Stop moving." I heard him say but I didn't want to stop, I wanted to go home. I wanted out of here. I thought of Sirius and how much I loved him. I pulled myself out of the curse and I pushed him back.

"I CANT BELIEVE YOU! Sirius was right about you, you are a disgusting revolting person." I said before turning my back on him and leaving. He grabbed my arm and I threw him against the wall I was so angry with him. He wasn't a friendly nice guy; he was an asshole who pretended to be friendly. The Professor caught me in the hall.

"Excuse me you aren't done with your detention. Get back in there!" He said. I turned to face him with tears in my eyes.

"Send me to Dumbledore I don't care!" I said before running to the common room. When I got there I started to wipe my eyes to get rid of the puffy eyes and tears. I hated Joe with all my being that filthy son of a bitch. I entered the common room and Lily saw me first.

"Detention over already?" She asked and I just went straight to Sirius. God, how I needed him. I placed my head on his chest and I kept it there soaking up his scent. He smelled so incredible.

"Ash? What's wrong?" He asked me stroking my hair.

"I left detention early." I said and Professor McGonagall barged in and told me to follow her. I pulled Sirius with me and he followed.

"Only you. Ms. Hewitt." She said and I still held onto Sirius hand.

"Very well. You never listen anyway." She said. I didn't even look at her. We followed her to the office that I knew so well. Inside Dumbledore was in his nightcap and he looked a little peeved.

"Ashleigh… Mr. Black?" He said with confusion in his eyes.

"She refused to let him go, Albus." She said. Professor Dumbledore raised his eyebrow and dismissed Professor McGonagall. I still wouldn't let go of Sirius' hand.

"Would you care to tell me why you wont let him go and why you refused to spend detention with your potions teacher?" He asked me.

"Uncle Dumbledore?" He looked surprised because that was the first time I recognized him as my uncle.

"Joe used the Imperious curse on me in detention and he… he forced me to kiss him." I said and I saw Dumbledore's face turn red with anger.

"He what? I'll kill him." Sirius said trying to let go of my hand but I wouldn't let him.

"Calm down Mr. Black. He will be expelled and I will bring him up to the Ministry for using an unforgivable curse. Don't worry you wont have to deal with him ever again." Dumbledore said and then he said we could go. Sirius and I walked slowly back to the common room.

"Ash, why didn't you tell me? I would have killed him the second I heard." Sirius said. I gave a nervous laugh.

"I didn't want you to go to jail too. I can't lose you at all." I said.

"I still want to kill him." He said and I gave him a kiss on the cheek. I held onto his hand this whole time and I wasn't going to let go. He stopped before we got to the common room.

"Are you seriously ok?" He asked me honestly.

"I will be. I just… I cant stop thinking and seeing what happened. It was so gross. You were right about him, he's scum." I said looking at the ground. I hated when I was wrong.

"I didn't want to be right." He said and he kissed me. I could tell the difference between his kisses and anyone else's.

"I love you so much." I said when we finished kissing him.

"I love you too." He said and we went back into the common room. Drew came up to me and sat in front of me.

"Did you get in trouble?" He asked me and I told him all about what had happened. He got just as mad as Sirius but he tried to control it.

"What do you think will happen to him?" Lily asked.

"He wont be able to play in the Pros, that's for sure." James said.

"Why?" I asked him.

"Because he used an Unforgivable curse. The ministry has been having tons of problems with those curses lately. He'll probably spend some time in Azkaban." Remus said.

"What is Azkaban?" I asked them. I had no idea what they were talking about.

"Azkaban is a type of prison but for Wizards. They have these things called Dementors who control the prisoners by taking all emotions from them but pain and sadness." Lily said.

"Oh." I said. I felt bad for Joe but at the same time I didn't. I wanted him to suffer and I didn't care how.

"But he deserves it. You know you only really learn those curses if you are taught by someone who knows them." James said thoughtfully.

"Do you think he is a death eater?" I asked thinking of him asking that question about my Christmas.

"Probably. I bet all the Slytherins are death eaters." Drew said. I looked at him remembering what McGonagall had said about taking some sixth years. Maybe Voldermort is taking on sixth years or younger.

"What should we do?" Lily asked.

"Nothing really. I mean we can pick on them and make their lives hell." Sirius said.

"Oh yeah, give them more of a reason to kill us once we get out of school." I said.

"I can't wait until I become an Auror." James said shaking his head. He was obviously thinking of way to make life hell for the bad guys.

"Me either." I said because I wanted to kick people's butts.

"Me either." Drew said.

"Me either." Sirius, Lily, and Remus said. And I put my hand in the middle of the circle that we were all in.

"How about we stick together. All of us against the bad guys." I said and Drew put his hand in followed by James' and then Sirius' and Lily's and then Remus'. We all looked at Peter who was hesitating. He was such a coward at times.

"Oh come one Pete. We stick together and nothing will happen to us." James said to him. Peter reluctantly put his hand in the circle and we all pulled it out.


	35. Chapter 35

"James and Lily are spending a LOT of time together." I said when I saw them leave the common room together.

"Yeah, they're in love." Sirius said trying to concentrate on the game in front of him. He was playing Black Jack with Remus.

"Sirius, I told you it's a game of luck, its not like you can master it." I said seeing him sitting there for 5 minutes deciding whether he should hit or not.

"I'm going to master this game." He said. I rolled my eyes at him and looked in my bag. The Eric Devlin poster was in it, I still needed to give it to Drew. I planned on giving it to him when he broke up with Emma to cheer him up but some things happened that made me forget about it. Drew just walked in with his new girlfriend this week. He was going back to his old ways, taking out a different girl each week. Poor girls.

"Drew, can I talk to you?" I asked pulling him away from the girl.

"What?" He asked.

"Here, I've been meaning to give this to you." I said handing him the poster. He smiled and unrolled it.

"How did you get this?" He asked.

"I won a bet." I said and he hugged.

"Thank you so much." He said.

"It's a valuable poster. I mean it was the poster you got signed when dad took us to the last Quidditch World Cup." I said and he looked down at it again.

"Yeah, that was a great game. 10 hours, amazing." He said laughing.

"Hey, look I know you are still upset over Emma but do you think that going out with different girl each week is the answer to your pain?" I asked him. He looked up at me with anger in his eyes.

"I don't think my love life is any of you business." He said leaving me sitting there in shock. I had expected him to get mad but not that mad.

"Hey Ash, will you play against him, I already am cleaning the room for the next year." Remus said desperately. I laughed and sat down to play. I won enough games to grant Remus immunity from cleaning for a year.

"You are so mean to me baby." He said.

"You have a gambling problem." I said sitting on his lap.

"I do not. I just hate losing." He said. Kissing my neck. I pulled away; I didn't want to kiss in public.

"Ashleigh, I think I may have to steal you from Sirius because you are my savior!" Remus said pretending to kiss my feet.

"Relax guys, there is plenty of me to go around." I said joking. Professor McGonagall came into the common room and looked around. She seemed to be searching for someone.

"Ah, Ms. Hewitt. Professor Dumbledore would like to see you, your brother, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter and Mr. Pettigrew." She said reading names off of a list. We all followed her to his office, Lily and James had seen us on the way there and she told them to come with her too.

"What did you guys do now?" Lily whispered.

"Noth…ing." James said innocently until he remembered something.

"Probably another prank. We are not getting pinned for this guys." I said to James and Sirius. We all took a seat in Dumbledores office. He looked worn out and torn. What could he be torn about? I thought as we sat in silence.

"A terrible thing this is…" He said shaking his head. We all looked at each other confused.

"This war has started and I am sorry to announce that we are seriously lacking in Aurors… Three more of our Aurors died today saving some muggles. At this rate we will lose by next month." He said. I looked to Drew and he locked eyes with me. Dumbledore couldn't possibly be considering bringing us into the Order this early.

"When this school year is over you are all eligible to take your apparating test. And once you pass it you can use your magic outside of school. I am asking a lot you guys, I know. But this country needs you, people who are defenseless need you." He said looking at us now.

"I'm in." I said and the rest looked at me. Everyone else nodded to say they were in too.

"I wont train you at the moment. I will train you next year on top of you classes. You will be doing additional homework on top of the homework that you will be given in class and your N.E.W.T.s. Once you pass your N.E.W.T.S you will be a full Auror." He said. I looked to Drew and the others, I was excited.

"What about this summer?" I asked him.

"I was thinking about letting you train with Mad eye Moody to get some extra practice." He said.

"I'm up for it, I don't want to stay in the castle all summer." I said and Drew nodded eagerly.

"I don't have plans this summer either." James said.

"Maybe you should spend it with your parents." Dumbledore said.

"With all due respect Professor, I don't want to be in the position I was in a couple of months ago. I want to be able to help my dad fight against them." James said.

"Its up to your parents then." He said.

"I don't have plans, I don't have a family." Sirius said sourly.

"We're your family." I said touching his hand. He looked at me and smiled slightly.

"If your parents give you permission then you can, the more people we have, the better. But I also want you to think about this. Your childhood will be over once you sign that contract." He said.

"Our childhood is already over." I said quietly. A couple of us nodded in agreement. With what we had already gone through, it was over.

"Ok, now may I speak to Ashleigh and Drew alone please?" He said and everyone left the room. He turned his attention to us.

"Those force fields that you guys have… its very useful. And we might have to use that… is it ok with you guys?" He asked us.

"Of course, whatever we can do to help. We want this guy dead, he killed our parents and we want him dead." I said.

"I guess now would be a good time to tell you that we kind of see the future too." Drew said and I looked at him with horror. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone that, we would sound so insane.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"We saw him torture and kill Emma's parents… we see other things too but we haven't made sense of that. Mostly its green flashes of light…" He said.

"And kids, like kids that look like us and people we know. And I knew that he was going to use the crutio curse on me at the Potters' because I dreamed it." I said he nodded.

"He tortured the Vances?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was horrible… I wish we had never have seen it." I said with tears in my eyes because I could still see it.

"But you can't tell Emma, she doesn't really need to know. Not yet anyway." Drew said. Dumbledore nodded. It would be easier on her if she knew that her parents just died rather then them being tortured.

"Don't worry about anything. Why don't you go to bed and if you dream anything, no matter how insignificant it is, tell me right away." He said. I nodded along with Drew and we left. The group was at the bottom of the spiral staircase. We walked with them back to the common room.

That night I went to sleep and I prayed that I would dream something, anything so I could help Dumbledore out. I couldn't sleep for a while until Lily came back up to the room. I didn't want to talk so I pretended to be asleep and it work because I felt myself falling asleep after a while.

And of course since I wanted a nightmare so I could help our Dumbledore, I didn't get one. It sucks how the world works. I reluctantly got ready for classes, I hated going to class but I loved Hogwarts so much.

"Ash, come on, you're going to be late." I heard Lily say and pulled myself out of bed and into the bathroom. Once I was done getting ready I joined Lily and he headed toward the Great Hall.

"I can't believe that Dumbledore picked us to be in the Order." She said, she was so excited.

"Oh please, you were destined to be picked, I mean you are the smartest girl in Hogwarts." I said rolling my eyes at her.

"Hey." I said sitting really close to Sirius. He put his arm around me and kissed me on the lips lightly. I felt my butterflies flutter at his slightest touch. I took a piece of toast and took a small bite. He leaned over me and took a huge bite of MY toast.

"HEY!" I said looking shocked. All my toast was gone. I pretended to be sad and then he just kissed me with his buttery lips.

"Toast stealer." I said taking another piece and turning my back on him. He started to kiss my neck and it tickled so I laughed. My neck felt all buttery.

"Stop, now I got butter all over me." I said wiping my neck.

"Hmm, delicious." He said going in for another kiss but I stopped him because Professor McGonagall was giving us a stern look. He didn't care but I did.

"Seriously stop." I said and I was sure that I was bright red.

"Don't get embarrassed." He whispered.

"McGonagall is watching us." I said looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Who cares? As long as we're together." He said. I rolled my eyes at him and he started to tickle me.

"I care!" I said trying not to shriek with laughter. I pushed his hands away and I got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" He asked me.

"Class." I said leaving with Lily.


	36. Chapter 36

"So, why is Sirius acting so weird around you?" Lily asked.

"What do you mean?" I ask laughing. Lily and I hanging out by the lake.

"I mean that every time you guys are in public he kind of gets nervous and weird." Lily said.

"I haven't noticed it." I said running my hand across the water. But the truth was that I was notching it, he seemed to get really nervous and that wasn't like him. I should be talking to him about it but I didn't want to create any drama between us, we haven't had much lately and I love it like that. We had an end of the year ball coming up; it was a month before school was getting out. We only had a little over a month and then we would be training. I was a little nervous, I had heard that Mad Eye Moody was very strict and he didn't stand for any bullshit.

We left the lake and went back to the common room; I had decided to talk to Sirius about his behavior since I didn't want to be the one who got hurt. Because if he was getting bored of me and he wanted to break it off then I was going to do it first. Then I would be able to walk away with pride. But what's pride when I would be losing the love of my life?

"Sirius, can we talk?" I asked.

"Oh God, that's the death sentence." James said joking. I glared at him and he shut up going back to his game with Remus.

"What's wrong?" He asked me.

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"What?" He asked looking confused.

"Is something wrong? You seem to be acting weird lately." I said.

"No everything is fine." He said and he kissed me. It felt like the same kiss, full of love and electricity. Of course everything was fine I was just over reacting. I pulled him closer and we kissed deeper, I loved the feel of his hands on me and the feel of his lips touching mine. When we had pulled apart we were both breathless.

"I love you." He said kissing me again and again and again. All over my face and neck and on top of my clothes while tickling me, making me laugh. I loved him too.

"Say it." He said and he kept tickling me. I shook my head trying not to laugh too hard. He started to tickle harder and harder making me squirm and I was becoming quite loud.

"SAY IT!" He said touching my sides, where I was the most ticklish.

"Ok! OK! I love you.' I said and he kissed me.

"Man, if Voldermort resorts to tickling you instead of hurting you, we're all in trouble." He said joking. I hit him and walked away from him back to Lily. He lifted me off the seat and sat me on his lap.

"Don't be mad." He said in a kiddy voice.

"Why?" I said stubbornly.

"You know I was joking. You're the strongest person I know. You don't need a knight in shining armor." He said mocking me with that last bit.

"But I got one!" I said giving him a small kiss on the lips. I loved his lips; they were so soft and warm.

"Take it to a room." James said and Sirius pretended to try to kiss him.

"Come on, Prongs we should take this to a room!" He said pulling at James' shirt. The whole common room was watching at Sirius tried to kiss James.

"I knew they were gay." I voice said but I didn't know whose. Sirius straightened up after his failed attempt to kiss James and he sat next to me.

"I thought I was the only apple of your eye." I said pretending to be mad.

"You know I prefer you over James. He doesn't even like me so you're stuck with me."

"No! James can have you!" I said.

"I feel unloved." He said pouting. I kissed his bottom lip. We played around like that for a while before we had decided to go to bed. We had a Hogsmeade weekend and Lily and I were going to look for dresses for the dance that we were going to that night. Sirius, the incredible dancer would be my date. I couldn't wait.

"Lily! You need to wear that one!" I said pointing to the green dress that she had tried on earlier. It was a cute dress, it had straps around the neck and it was covered in light sparkly diamonds. It made her eyes stand out and James would be knocked off his feet. We had already decided on a dress that was similar to last years dress for me. It was an aquamarine blue that looked great with my complexion and it had a kind of cut up bottom that went just above my knees, it looked cute on me.

"Fine, only because it makes me look good." She said sighing.

"Good? It makes you look like a Goddess!" I said and we started to giggle. We bought the dresses and we headed back to Hogwarts, not letting the guys see us. While we did each other's hair and make up we talked and we got to know more of our roommates. I hadn't known that Dorcas was planning on becoming a Auror like us. We couldn't tell her about the Order though; we would just have to wait for Dumbledore to speak to her. We were all dressed and ready to have a great night. In the common room, James, Sirius, Drew and Remus were waiting for us. I couldn't hold back the big smile that was on my face when I saw Sirius standing there looking so handsome. How did I get so lucky?

"My lady." He said extending his arm and I accepted it. He had that sexy grin on his face that made my legs turn to jello. We entered the Great hall and the decorations looked incredible. Immediately Sirius wanted to dance and I didn't mind dancing with him at all.

"Hold on, stay here. I will be right back." He said running toward the band. He was whispering with them and then he came back acting all cool.

"What was that about?" I asked laughing at him.

"Nothing." He said pulling me closer to him. A song that I recognized immediately began to play. It was the song that I had loved since I first heard it. It was a soft slow song.

"Aww." I said and I kissed him. He was such an incredible boyfriend.

"I saw your sky fall down today

Suddenly turned from blue to gray

Till one by one the raindrops

Turned to tears upon your face…" He started to sing the song to me and I closed my eyes as we danced so gracefully across the dance floor. Was this why he was acting so weird? He wanted to sing to me.

"If you ever need me

You know where to find me

I will be waiting where I've always been….

Right by your side.

God, Ash I love you so much and I never will leave you. I don't know what it is about you but you have me hooked. The only thing I am addicted to… is you." He said. I felt myself blush as we danced. He was such a total sweetheart.

"Is this why you have been acting so weird?" I asked him.

"Yes, I was just a little nervous to be doing it in public and I had to memorize the song." He said. I kissed him when the song ended and we sat down with the rest of the gang.

"You are such a romantic." I said sitting on his lap. He held me close to him and I didn't want to leave this moment. This was the moment where I felt the safest, in his arms. We danced more and more and more. We danced the night away and I was so tired, I was glad that tomorrow was Sunday so I could sleep in. Sirius carried me all the way to the common room as I kissed his neck. I loved him so much, which would never change.

"Come on babe, you have to go to your own room." He said setting me down.

"Fine, if I have to… goodnight." I said and I kissed him one last time and went to bed. This was one of the greatest nights of my life, I thought as I drifted to sleep.

"_HARRY!" I heard Mrs. Potter scream. I turned around to see her on the ground her face was twisted in pain. I looked around for Mr. Potter but I couldn't find him. Where was he? Three death eaters came into the room carrying Mr. Potter. _

"_Tell us who else is in the Order." I heard one speak. The lifted the curse off of her. _

"_Never." She spat at them. _

"_Then Die…. Avada Kadavra!" And flashes of green light me and then she was dead. She had the same horrid look my mother had on her face. _

"_LISA!" I finally heard Mr. Potter scream as he woke up. The death eaters turned to him next and killed him without a second to spare. The colors around me whirled and I saw Sirius in an Alley fighting against a death eater, it was Joe. His mask had come off and I could see his face clearly. _

"_NOOO!" I tried to scream but Joe got the better of Sirius when he was being too cocky. Sirius fell to the ground and he wasn't moving. _

I woke up and I knew that I had to see Dumbledore. I had to save the Potter's or James would be like Drew and I. I pulled on my robes and slipped into some shoes. I needed to get to him right away; it was night in the dream. Please don't let it be tonight, I prayed.

"Ash?" I heard Drew falling down the steps from his dorm.

"I know, lets go." I said. And I saw James coming out right behind him. He looked just a panicked as me. He ran to the portrait hole and I gave Drew a questioning look.

"I talked in my sleep." He whispered and we raced after James. He ran into McGonagall's office and he took her floo powder.

"No, James! We have to talk to Dumbledore!" I said but James wasn't listening. He jumped into the fire and yelled his household.

"We have to…" Drew started going toward the door.

"…Follow him." I said jumping into the fire too. I knew that Drew would follow me because he couldn't let me get hurt. When I stepped out of the fire I didn't see James at all. Drew came right behind me.

"Ash?" He whispered. I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the stairs. We were stopped because a Death Eater apparated in front of us. Instinctively our force field went up and it pushed the Death Eater all the way toward the opposite side of the room. We let go of each other and we ran to the stairs. I saw James falling backwards down the stairs.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I said stopping him from falling down the stairs. He was up right again and he raced back up the stairs. I stayed near the bottom of the stairs until I heard James cry out in pain.

"Leave him alone. He didn't do anything." Mr. Potter said. We raced into the Potters' room and we saw 4 death eaters and Voldermort standing around the Potters'… all three of them. He heard us and turned to see us.

"Oh, I get to see both of you in action together. This will be fun." He said and I grabbed Drew's hand jumping through the gap toward the Potters'. We landed on top of James and Mr. Potter and the force field went up around all 5 of us, knocking the death eaters out of the way.

"What the…" I heard Voldermort say. If only I could contact Dumbledore, I thought as we just sat there. Voldermort touched it and then he started to throw powerful hexes, charms, jinxes, everything at it. It wasn't working though. It was hurting us a little but we tried not to let him see that.

"Hold on Ash." Drew whispered to me. I clenched my jaw and nodded. I was holding on even though my insides were turning to mush. My heart was beating wildly and I felt sick to my stomach.

"This is strong." Voldermort said quietly and then we heard the door knock down and my first thought was Dumbledore.

"You guys need to get out of here." I heard a familiar voice say and when I looked at Mr. Potter I saw Joe sitting there. I froze as Drew let go of my hand and started to jump on Joe. He was going to kill him and get us killed in the process. I grabbed Drew's hand again but it was already too late. Voldermort had a hold of James and he was dangerously holding his wand too close to James' neck. Then I saw Sirius being escorted in by another death eater. This was a trap; the Potters' were already dead.

"Don't put that thing up again or we will kill them." Voldermort said and Drew stopped hitting Joe. Joe took this opportunity to hit Drew in the face. I saw blood but I couldn't help him right now. I shakily stood up and sighed. We were going to die.

"Thank you Joseph." Voldermort said excusing him. Joe nodded and left without another word. He was condemning us all to our deaths.

"Why do you want to fight us so badly?" I asked him.

"I told you once before, I want you to join me." Voldermort said.

"And I told you no! We are not evil." I said.

"I'm not evil. I am just doing what I think is right." Voldermort said. Voldermort let go of James and pushed him into the arms of a death eater. I moved a little and Voldermort held up his finger.

"Let them go and we will leave with you." I said.

"Or I can kill them and you will leave with me anyway." He said raising his wand.

"NO! I'm telling you, we'll leave with you if you let them go back to Hogwarts." I said trying to convince him. I couldn't let them die. Voldermort made sure that Drew and I were separated and they pushed James and Sirius ahead of us.

"Go back to Hogwarts… I'll get you another time." Voldermort said.

"I'll go with you to." Sirius said looking at me.

"No, you can talk to Joseph if you want to join me but right now you will go to Hogwarts." He said and Sirius looked at me but I just nodded. He went forward and then James and him disappeared.

"Lets go." Voldermort said pulling out two pieces of trash. He threw one to a death eater and he held the other one. He still wouldn't let Drew nor I to come close to each other. Voldermort held onto my arm tightly and forced me to touch the icky sock. Everything around me started to swirl and I felt a little uneasy on my legs. Drew appeared four feet away from me and I couldn't grab a hold of him at all. I can't believe that we were in this situation. We should have just gone to Dumbledore like I was going to do.

"Come here." H said pulling me along. He pushed me into a cell that had 3 cement walls and bars in the front. Drew was placed in the cell next to me.

"Goodnight." One of the Death eaters said cheerfully. I kicked the metal bars and my toe started to sting.

"Don't worry Ash, we'll find a way out." Drew said.


	37. Chapter 37

"Drew, its not going to be ok. I can't even reach you." I said extending my arm toward his bars. He did the same and we could barely touch each other's fingers.

"Just calm down, we will find a way out of this." He said. I sighed and got up to look around my cell. It had a bed with a pillow and that was it. Nothing else was in sight, I didn't have my wand and I couldn't really do anything to get out of here. I looked at the lock on the bars and it was an old fashioned lock, I could probably pick it if I had something handy.

"Hey Drew, do you have anything in your pockets?" I asked him. I heard him dig into his pockets.

"I have a some mints, a safety pin, a dung bomb, and a piece of lint." He said.

"Why do you have a safety pin?" I asked him.

"I don't know, its just there. Why do you want to know?" He asked.

"I want to know because I think I might be able to pick this lock. Now throw me the safety pin." I whispered. He threw it to me and I just able to reach it. I placed it in my pocket because I heard someone coming.

"What's going on in here?" I heard a guy yell.

"What do you think?" I asked with attitude. I was mad but I had to save Sirius and James. I mean I loved Sirius with all my heart and I wouldn't be able to stand it if he had died and I had lived. I would just have to kill myself. The man came up to my cell and stood there just staring. I had recognized him immediately, it was Alfie.

"Alfie?" I asked and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He smiled at me and I shuddered with disgust.

"You filthy rotten asshole!" Drew screamed lunging for Alfie but the bars stopped him.

"Wow, cool it Drew. I came to say that I was sorry." He said,

"Yeah right. I never took you to be one for the dark side." I said.

"Yeah well, you kind of ruined my life. I got into a lot of trouble with the ministry because of you." He said.

"You can control your own actions!" I said clawing at him. He grabbed my hand and I pulled it back violently. It started to sting so I must have pulled something.

"Well, anyway, I'll see you around." He said leaving us there. I was so mad my body was shaking with anger. I wanted to kill him and I hated that I felt that way. It just felt wrong to feel this way.

After a while I started to pick at the lock, we needed to get out of here and soon. I couldn't imagine what would happen if we were stuck here any longer. I was afraid and I wasn't going to show it.

"Is it working?" Drew asked after a while.

"Yeah, if there was one thing I learned from Tray it was how to pick a lock." I said laughing slightly.

"And why did he teach you? Where have you ever used it?" He asked me.

"We went to the school and he picked the lock. He said he wanted to make a statement. You remember that time someone had written that stuff all over the school that only the students could see… that was us." I said laughing.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me that!" He said sounding angry.

"I couldn't, you hated Tray." I said and I got it. The lock clicked and I was free. I slipped out of the door and started on Drew's lock.

"How are we going to get out of here. I'm sure they don't have a fireplace." He said after his lock clicked and he got out as fast as he could.

"As long as we have each other does it really matter. We can fend them all off." I said grabbing his hand. We didn't put up the force field but we quietly walked in the direction that we had come.

"If I had my wand…" I said swearing under my breath.

"Lets steal one." He whispered pointing at the guy who was oblivious to our escape. I nodded and we crept up on him. No one else was in sight. I hit him hard on the head and he blacked out. I stole his wand and I did a disillusionment charm on both of us.

"I'm so glad you are good at charms." He said and we continued to creep along. We stopped when we saw a whole hoard of Death Eaters standing around watching Voldermort in the middle of a big circle. We quietly watched even though ever bone in my body told me to run. Drew kept shaking his head and pulling me away from the group. He took the wand and unlocked the door that was in front of us. We slipped through a small crack between the door and the frame. That led to another corridor that led to another corridor.

"We are never going to get out of here." I whispered to him. He just kept going and then we saw a bunch of Death eaters barge into the corridor we were in. We jumped against the wall as they passed us. They found out that we had escaped.

"Come on." Drew said following them and sure enough they led us outside. We looked around and we were in a graveyard. How were we going to escape? We carefully and quietly walked past the Death Eaters that were roaming looking for us. We broke out in a run toward some lights that we saw.

"We need to get to one of those houses." Drew said pointing to the houses at the bottom of the hill.

"What if Death eaters live there. We can't risk it." I whispered and we headed toward the houses anyway. We just needed to find Diagon Alley or something like it. We wandered along the outskirts of the small town until we felt like passing out because we were so tired.

"I just need to rest." I said sitting on a rock.

"Ash, I don't think we should risk it." He said. We had held hands this whole time just in case something happened.

"Drew, I'm so tired. We have been walking for two hours! We are never going to get home." I said complaining. I was always the complaining twin. He sighed and sat next to me on the rock. We both sighed and leaned on each other. I knew he was tired too because I could feel it once he rested his head on my shoulder.

"We have to get moving." Drew murmured.

"We don't even know where we are. We could be far far away from England." I murmured back. I was just as tired as he was but we couldn't fall asleep. I shook my head to shake out the tiredness and then Drew fell off the rock. And I started to laugh, he just pushed me off the rock too and then we both started to laugh.

"We need Dumbledore." I half cried. Didn't he have some type of connection with us, I mean we were related. We both stood up and we started to trudge along hoping to find something familiar.

"I wish we could apparate." Drew said after another hour of walking. I nodded and we continued on. I was so tired my legs were begging to rest.

"There is a wizarding house." I said pointing to one. It had gnome holes in the front yard. The sun was coming up and I could see someone upstairs getting ready for a new day.

"What if it's a Death Eaters house?" He asked me.

"We can go in or we can walk for another hour or so." I said. He stood there for a while.

"I'm too tired to fight anyone." He said.

"I know, me too." I said and we slowly walked up to the house. I knocked on the door and a few minutes later a woman came down and looked at us expectantly. She looked nice enough and she had robes from the ministry.

"We need help. Can we use your fireplace?" I asked her. She gave us a weird look and I showed her our wand.

"May I ask why?" She asked suspiciously.

"We need to get back to Hogwarts. We need to get some sleep." Drew said and she let us in. I handed her a few Galleons and she gave them back to me.

"Don't worry about it. Tell Dumbledore I said hi though." She and she let us go. We both got in at the same time and shouted Hogwarts. Everything started to swirl and then I recognized the office we had arrived in. It was Dumbledore's. He was pacing the length of his office and we stumbled out of his fireplace.

"Thank God." He said and he gave us a hug. It was morning now and we slinked into the chairs across from his desk. It was morning now and Dumbledore wanted us to see the nurse before we talked to him. We walked in the hospital wing leaning on each other for support. I didn't even get a chance to look up because a mass of red hair was smothering me.

"Oh my god, I woke up and you weren't there and then I ran into McGonagall and she told me that you left with James and then James told me…" But she stopped when Sirius cut in and held me close to him. I took in a deep breath and I felt totally relaxed because of his scent.

"Ash, how could you do that. I have been so worried about you. I thought that you…" But he could say it because his voice was cracking. I knew he was right but I couldn't let him die. Never. Drew was already in a bed close by.

"I couldn't let you die." I said and I noticed that my voice was cracking. Sirius put his strong arms around me and I felt like crying.

"How did you….?" James started but Dumbledore stopped him.

"Why don't we let them get some sleep." Dumbledore said and he escorted the four of them out of the Hospital Wing. Sirius was very reluctant leaving me, he looked as if I would disappear before he came back. I was helped into a bed and I immediately fell asleep. The pillow was so welcoming.


	38. Chapter 38

When I woke up Sirius was the first face that I saw. He was sitting in the chair next to my bed reading a magazine. I smiled at the sight of him. He was the perfect guy and he was mine.

"You're awake." He said putting the magazine down on the floor. I smiled and he gave me a small kiss on the cheek next to my lips.

"Are you feeling ok?" Dumbledore asked me. Drew was chowing down on some food in the bed next to me. Dumbledore handed me a tray with some food but I wasn't all that hungry.

"I feel great." I said sitting up and taking a huge drink of the water in front of me. Drew stopped eating because we knew that Dumbledore would want to know what had happened.

"So, do you guys feel up to telling me what happened?" He asked me.

"Sure, it started with the dream of the Potters and then we went to the Potters and Voldermort was there. We had the force field up but then Joe was in it and then…" We told him the whole story including the lock picking and everything.

"Are you serious? And you got out alive? Something doesn't add up." Sirius said.

"What do you mean?" Drew asked defensively.

"I mean this guy doesn't let anyone slip through his fingers. He kills and he doesn't care." Sirius said.

"He let you go." I said.

"Yes, only because you wouldn't go with him alive. He probably wants to brain wash you guys." Sirius said.

"He definitely does." Dumbledore said. It was the first time he had talked since we told the story. I sat there in a daze wondering what would have happened if we didn't get out of there in time.

"I think you guys are well enough to go back to your common room. And next time please come to me before you decide to go on rescue missions." He said. We nodded while looking at the floor and we went to the common room.

"I'm sorry I made you worry. I just couldn't lose you and I knew that some how Drew and I would get out of it." I said while Sirius had his arm around my waist.

"The whole time you were gone I thought you were dead and it was killing me." He said. I knew he was right but I never wanted to take the chance.

"I know you are but I just don't want to take the chance of losing you because I'm not strong enough to live with out you now." I said and he pulled me closer to him.

"I'm not strong enough to live without you either." He whispered and we entered the common room. James was in the common room with Remus. Neither of them was talking and James looked as if his whole world came crashing down on him. I knew exactly how he felt and I wanted him to know that I would be there for him.

"James?" I said, he looked up at me and he looked horrible. His eyes were puffy and he just looked empty. It was horrible when you lost someone close to you.

"It gets easier, especially when you have great friends." I said, even though I knew how he felt and I knew what he was going through I didn't really know what to say. He slightly nodded and left the common room. Lily chased after him.

"You should go." I said to Sirius motioning to James.

"No, he needs his space. He probably wont want me to see him cry anyway." Sirius said and I remembered that Sirius was really close to the Potters too. They were like his parents and he had just lost them also.

"So what did it feel like to escape from him again?" Sirius asked me.

"I don't know, I mean it as weird. He could have found us if he had wanted to." I said thinking of the times he had seen me perform the disillusionment charm. He had known I would use it if I had gotten a hold of a wand. My wand! I didn't have one.

"Oh my gosh, I don't a wand." I said suddenly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Dumbledore will give you guys a temporary wand." He said. I sat next to him and placed my head on his chest. I could hear his heart beating and I felt safer than anything else in the world.

"I can hear your heart beating." I whispered.

"It only beats for you." He said.

"That's too corny, even for you." I said and we laughed. I kissed him like I usually did but I couldn't feel the electricity or the passion in it. The kiss wasn't even the same, this wasn't Sirius. I can just tell that it wasn't him. I backed away from him and I hit my head on some cement. I closed my eyes and I looked around, I was still in the cell and a bunch of death eaters were watching and laughing. What? But I was back at Hogwarts, I was there and I was sleeping and I talked to Dumbledore.

"Ash, don't worry." I heard Drew say. I backed against the wall far away from the death eater that I had kissed and pulled my knees up to my chest. How can this be? How could I be there but be here?

"Did you like that trick? I can manipulate your dreams, I learned how years ago." I heard Voldermort say and the laughter stopped. All the Death Eaters were leaving so that Voldermort, Drew and myself were left. All I wanted to do was leave, get out of here.

"Dumbledore has given up on your two, he has stopped looking. You're all alone now." Voldermort said with a serious look and tone. I refused to believe that.

"Liar!" Drew spat at him. Voldermort lifted and flicked his wand and I could hear Drew struggling and he cried out in pain. Voldermort stopped and looked back at me. He looked so sincere that for a second, just for a second I believed him. He left us in the cell and I checked my pocket. The Safety pin was gone. Did Drew even give me a safety pin? I can't tell what was real and what was fake.

"What happened? How did we get back here?" I asked him.

"We've been here this whole time." Drew said after a while.

"Drew what do you have in your pockets?" I asked him.

"Nothing." He said and he sounded as if he should give up hope. We couldn't just give up though, we had to fight our way out. I took my earring out of my ear. Thank God for jewelry. But when I tried to pick the lock it wouldn't work. A death eater walked in and stood watch over us.

"Are you the death eater that I kissed?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He said smirking as if he enjoyed it. He probably did but I didn't.

"There was something about that kiss that made me… hot." I said biting my bottom lip and then licking my lips. He cleared his throat and shifted where he was standing.

"You know, I love bad boys… I would love to do more than kiss…" I said playing with the button on my pants. When it unsnapped he was flat out staring at me now. I pulled my pants down to give him a peep show and I winked at him in a seductive manner. I always did have a knack for seducing men to get my way. He came closer and he opened the door and slipped in. He didn't waste any time taking off his pants and pulling me to him. He started to kiss my neck, and then I put my hands on his private spot and I grabbed it. He stopped moving and I knocked him out. I took his wand and buttoned my pants back up and let Drew out.

"This isn't a dream." I said pinching myself to wake me up.

"I can't believe you did that to get out of here." He said laughing and shaking his head.

"We get to leave right?" I asked him and we grabbed each other's hands.

"Hey Drew?" I asked him. He looked at me.

"What's my favorite song as a little kid?" I asked him. He gave me a confused look.

"Mary had a little lamb." He said.

"Why?" I asked him.

"It was the only thing you could play on the Clarinet," He said.

"Ok, just making sure." I said. We left the room and walked into the open.

"No one is here. We need to find a fireplace." I said.

"First we need to find out where we are." He said and we walked out of the building we were in. I could see a graveyard and a small town just like before.

"That's it, we are not walking for hours. We are going to break into one of those houses." I said making up my mind.

"No, we aren't. We don't know if those houses are on the floo networks." He said shaking his head. I smiled and he eyed me evilly.

"We know how to apparate. We are so prepared for our test its not funny. We could you know." I said giving him a pleading look.

"No, we will get into so much trouble! Besides you can Apparate onto Hogwarts grounds." He said.

"No but we can apparate to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley and use the fireplaces there. Besides we need wands." I said and finally gave up. We held hands and apparated to Diagon Alley. I laughed when we both had everything and we were completely fine. We rushed to the wand shop and got some new wands and then to Leaky Cauldron to use the fireplace.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" Professor McGonagall shrieked at us and gave us hugs once we appeared.

"In captivity. What did I get on my last test?" I asked her. She gave me a confused look.

"You got a B." She said after I glared at her. She was right, how would Voldermort know something like that? Dumbledore was in the corner and he appeared hugging us also.

"What's our Mother's maiden name?" Drew asked him.

"King." He said without any hesitation. Only he would know that because our mother had changed her name from King to Cox when she was sixteen to get away from her mother.

"Would you like to tell us what happened?" He asked us.

"Sirius and James? Are they ok?" I asked him before I would explain anything. He nodded and then I told him the entire story. Even the part about us thinking we were here but we weren't and how we had officially escaped.

"Ok, you were excused from all your classes. James and Sirius are in the common room and they would love to see you guys. I have to say we all thought you would be dead but I am so happy that you aren't. Go on, see your friends." He said and we ran off to the common room. We stopped before we got there and I hugged Drew.

"I'm so glad that we are both ok. I don't know what I would do without a brother like you." I said and he hugged me back. I had tears in the back of my eyes and I knew he did to because he was sniffling. We pulled apart and hid our tears from each other before going into the common room. Before I could say anything Sirius was running straight at me and I was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop.

"I thought you were dead. I have been killing myself worrying about you these last couple of days." He said hugging me so tight I was getting a headache. I held him close to me and I could smell that familiar scent. He pulled back slightly and kissed me and it was the same kiss that I had felt many times. This was Sirius and this was all real.


	39. Chapter 39

"What happened?" Lily asked. She was holding James' hand and he didn't look too good.

"Nothing really." I said and Drew kind of laughed.

"Other than the fact that Ash got out us out of there by seducing a death eater." Drew said telling them what I did. Sirius wouldn't even look at me after Drew was telling the story. He barely even sat next to me.

"It wasn't as bad as he was making it seem." I whispered to him when Drew started to tell them the whole thing including the dream. Sirius still wasn't looking at me.

"Sirius, come on. I had to get us out of there. Its not like I do it all the time." I said to him. He finally looked at me and he seemed madder than I had ever seen him.

"I'm sure there were other ways. You didn't have to do that." He said.

"Why are you so mad? It has nothing to do with you, I was doing what I thought was necessary to get out of there." I said raising my voice a little. I did not need this guy judging me when I was in a situation that he was never in.

"It does too concern me! You're my girlfriend and I would appreciate it if you didn't kiss or touch any one else no matter what situation you were in." He said.

"Next time I'll just die! How does that sound?" I asked, everyone around us was staring.

"I don't want you to die, but I am sure that…I can't believe you could do…." He was speechless and I was mad.

"Well believe it because it happened and you can deal with it or you don't have to deal with it at all." I said leaving him there sitting speechless as I walked up to my dorm. I didn't know if I had just broken up with him or not. I guess only time will tell because right now I didn't want to see him at all. Lily came into the dorm room and I pretended to be asleep. I was hungry but I didn't want to go down for dinner. I should just sleep until tomorrow.

"Come on… quick moving… stop!" I heard the noises and jumped under my bed with my wand armed and ready. It was just my roommates. I sighed and returned back to my bed. They came out of the bathroom and I pretended to be asleep again. A couple of hours later everyone was sleeping and I still couldn't fall asleep and I was tired of pretending. I had fallen asleep after a while and I prayed that tomorrow would be better.

The next morning I looked at my self in the mirror and I was disgusted with myself. But I had done something that I thought was right considering the situation. Was I wrong? Why did he do this to me? I was perfectly content with myself until he got mad because it wasn't him that I showed my underwear to. I kicked the piece of clothing that was on the floor toward my bed. I was wrong but I was also afraid for my life and I did not want to die. I went down to breakfast with Lily and Drew. He had been waiting for me when I came down. He is going back to being protective. Sirius was in the Great hall and I wasn't sure if I should sit near him or not but he waved me over so I did.

"Look, we obviously need to talk." He said once I took a bite of bacon. I knew we had to talk and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. We left the Great Hall and we went into an empty classroom. Neither one of us spoke, I had no idea what to say.

"You were right… you did have to do what you had to do to survive. I guess I'm just… its just that… every time I close my eyes I see you and him all over each other." He said pacing the classroom. I sighed, I thought of it often too.

"I know, I think of it often too. But I just… I couldn't think of any other way." I said and wrapped his arms around me and he kissed the tip of my nose. We were making up again.

"I thought I had lost you and I felt empty because of it. And I would rather feel like I am now than empty. Ash, you complete me and I love you so much it hurts. I'm constantly afraid of losing you because I think I wont be able to go on… and I know all of this is some pretty heavy stuff but…" I put my finger to his lip and I nodded I knew exactly what he meant.

"Marry me." He said once we stopped kissing. I froze because I didn't know what to say. Part of me was yelling yes while another part was screaming no. I was too young to get married or even engaged. What was he thinking?

"Sirius… we're…" But I couldn't crush the look on his face. He looked so happy and I felt like such an idiot.

"Sirius, we should talk about this." I said and I saw his face fall. I felt the bottom of my stomach fall even lower.

"What is there to talk about?" He asked me.

"Sirius, we are so young." I said desperately wanting him to see my view.

"But we love each other right?" He asked to confirm that I still loved him.

"Of course I love you… don't ever doubt that. I just think we have our entire lives together. I just… I don't want to get married or engaged this young." I said. He let go of me and started to pace the classroom again. I just stood there waiting for him to answer.

"You're right, again. Look, I asked because I thought maybe that would be the next step. I'm new at this long term relationship and I don't know where we go from here." He said. It looked like he was struggling to say it.

"Step? We don't need steps, we can just do whatever we want. There are no rules, we make it up as we go and right now I want to stay as we are because it seems to be working." I said wrapping my arms around his waist and kissing him. He kissed me back and I felt like a Goddess by the way he was touching me. So lightly that it almost tickled.

"We have to get to class." I said after a few minutes. He nodded and we went to class. All through out the day he would be affectionate toward me and vice versa. We were soon becoming the popular couple of the school again. I hated that title but that's what it was.

"Is James ok?" I asked him even though I knew he wouldn't be. He had just lost his parents; he was probably in an emotional coma.

"He's doing better than I expected." Sirius said. I sat next to James who was sitting in the common room even though I got a vibe from him that said he wanted to be alone.

"James? I just wanted to say that I know how you feel and if you wanted to talk to anyone. I'm here for you. We all are." I said. He looked up and I saw emptiness behind his eyes. He politely nodded and looked back down. I leaned against Sirius and he put his arm around me. The only thing we could do was give him space.

"So excited about the game against Slytherin? This game determines whether we win the house cup or not." Sirius said mostly to James but he wasn't responding.

"I'm excited. I want to kick some Slytherin ass." I said. James was getting better and better each day. He would slowly come out of his coma and talk with us but when something about his parents or something that would remind him of them would come up he would retreat back and we would lose him for another couple of hours.

"Are you ready for the game James?" Sirius asked him at breakfast. The game was today and I wasn't sure James was up for it. James shrugged and I thought of a thousand reasons why we should use an alternate.

"James maybe you should sit this game out." I said cautiously. He looked up at me as if I was nuts.

"No, I'm ok really. I'm just distracted at the moment but I'll be fine on the field." He said moving his eggs around on his plate. I looked to Sirius and he nodded. He knew James better than I. At the game we were kicking butt and James was really kicking butt. He was knocking the Slytherins around left and right. I barely touched the ball. James scored so much we ended up winning the game and the cup. After that day he was a lot better even when something came up that led to his parents. Soon school was coming to an end. And we were able to take our Apparating test as soon as we left school. And we all passed. 

"What are we going to do?" Drew asked me. I shrugged, what could we do? Where could we go?

"Maybe we should get our own place." I suggested and Drew nodded. It was a good idea because we didn't want to live with friends or their families and Dumbledore didn't really have a house because he traveled a lot.

"Or we could contact our grandmother." I suggested and he gave me a bad look as if I was stupid. I rolled my eyes and I was looking at the paper. We were currently staying at the Leaky Cauldron. I sighed and threw the paper on the table, this was no use.

"Hey Ash?" Drew said after a while. He was looking at an old photo album that I had put together a while back.

"Huh?" I asked taking a bite of the salad I had ordered.

"What about that beach house mom and dad bought. We never sold it. We could stay there. It would be perfect and we get to go back to America." He said, he loved the beach house more than anything because he loved the beach. We both loved the beach so much. We spent hours at the beach when we were there in the summer and it never seemed dull.

"James and Sirius need a place to stay." I said thinking of them.

"I would love for them to stay there but I don't want to feel responsible for their lives you know." He said. I knew what he meant but they were our friends and the beach would be a great getaway.

"We can talk to Dumbledore, maybe he can do something to help us." I said because either way we were a target.

"Ok, I'll owl him right now. You get James and Sirius." He said. I smiled and ran up to the rooms of the Leaky Cauldron to find them. They were both still sleeping.

"Hey!" I said barging in and sitting on Sirius' bed. He pulled me under the covers and I started to kiss him to wake him up.

"Wakey wakey sleepy head!" I said kissing him all over his face and neck. He pulled me on top of him and I giggled when he touched my side because it tickled. I was on top of him and I bent down and kissed him on the lips. I heard James groan and Sirius pulled away and threw a pillow at him but it hit the door because James had left.

"Drew and I came up with an idea because staying here all summer with cost a ton of money. My parents they bought this beach house back in the States and we can all stay there." Sirius sat up and we were in spider position.

"Are you sure that you want to leave? I mean Dumbledore said we would be semi safe here." Sirius said with worrying in his eyes.

"We are going to owl Dumbledore right now and then we'll go from there." I said. Drew came into the room and looked at me as if I was stepping over a huge boundary. I rolled my eyes at him and got off Sirius. Sirius got up and pulled on a shirt and some shorts over his boxers.

"Dumbledore is on his way." Drew said and as soon as he said it Dumbledore appeared and he smiled at us. We told him our idea and he agreed immediately saying it was a great idea. Within the next few days we were moved into there and Dumbledore put a charm over the house so Voldermort couldn't find us.

"I love this place." I said taking the plastic covers off the furniture in the living room. I opened the blinds and light came shining in. the house looked exactly how I remembered it. I went into the kitchen and I opened the windows, this house needed air in it. Sirius came into the kitchen and set down a box. He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned back into his arms. I looked over and he kissed me with the sea breeze coming right at us.

"I love this… you and me and the beach… its perfect. One day when all this is over we will live here." I said giving him another kiss.

"That would be great." He said.


	40. Chapter 40

I'm sorry my updates have been fewer lately but I got the worst case of writers block and I had to read a book to get some inspiration but it didn't help. Lol. So, hopefully this chapter will be a good one since it's taking me forever to think of what to do next.

"Lily is coming to stay here for a while. And Remus said he would come in the last month after you know what." I announced as I walked into the room that Drew, James and Sirius were in, watching muggle TV. James and Sirius got hooked on the daily soap operas and wouldn't miss them for anything, including me.

"Uhuh." They all said watching Chloe and Steve break up. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my purse, I needed to go grocery shopping because nothing was left in the house. I yelled something and left but I was sure they wouldn't be listening or they wouldn't hear. The grocery store here was small, this whole town was small.

"Hey." I looked up and a tall guy with curly dark hair was standing in front of me as I was surveying the bananas in the grocery store.. I didn't think I knew him so I smiled went back the bananas.

"You know I couldn't help but notice that you, a beautiful girl, was over here shopping alone." He said. I smiled and nodded as if that was the corniest thing I had heard.

"So would it impress you if I told you I was a musician?" He asked me. I shook my head no and continued on shopping. He wouldn't leave me alone so I decided to say something.

"I have a policy about musicians." I said.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" He asked me.

"No musicians." I said before leaving to check out. I was already done with the shopping and all I wanted to do was go home and be with Sirius. I had bought tons of food and with three hungry guys in the house the food always went quick. Sirius ate more than all of us and I getting tired of having to go back and forth to the store. When I walked through the screen door something seemed off. I dropped the groceries and ran to the nearest room, no one was in it. Oh God what happened? I thought to myself as I ran to each room to check for any sign of life. The house was empty so I ran outside to see if they went to the beach. As soon as I stepped out all three of them jumped out of the bushes and started to shoot me with water guns. I was soaked.

"You're dead!" I screamed picking up the hose and soaking them in return. After a while we all just lay in a circle one our backs watching the sunset. A light breeze came and I shivered because I was so wet. Sirius pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. This had to be the best summer ever I thought as I nuzzled up against his chest and felt myself drift to sleep.

"Come on baby." I heard Sirius' voice but I wouldn't let go of him. He had to stay with me all night, I wanted him to.

"No, stay." I said opening my eyes.

"No, your brother would kill me." He said smiling and pushing a piece of hair out of my face so gently that my body shook a little. He was so loving and caring.

"I don't care about him right now." I said locking the door of my room and lying back on the bed with Sirius. He didn't seem to mind at all and we just lay there talking quietly. After a while there was silence and I could feel the sexual tension. I rolled over to be on top of him and I kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him, which made my stomach do flip-flops. I started to take off his shirt and he stopped me.

"Are you sure?" He asked me and I nodded. I was ready for this and I knew he was more than ready. Besides the place was perfect and this could just be the next step. I took off his shirt completely and he pulled off mine looking at my and grinning. I giggled when he couldn't stop grinning. We kissed again and it felt incredible to have his skin touch mine. My body was reacting more and more to his touch. I had never felt this way when someone touched me before. I felt like there was a fire raging inside of me and my body was begging for more. Everything was going so fast and then it was over. My body completely relaxed and yet at the same time I felt energized and alive. I lay in his arms watching the moon through the window. He hadn't moved at all for a while and I wondered if he was asleep. I moved slightly and he pulled me closer to him, possessively. And he began to stroke me again, his hands were gentle and loving and yet greedy too. I closed my eyes and I pictured him when he grinned and I immediately wanted him again. I didn't just want him, I needed him. So we started all over again.

"Oh, Christ Ash!" He said and soon after the pleasure flowed through my body again and this time I fell asleep soon after. When the sunlight hit my face and woke up I thought maybe last night was a dream but then I moved and Sirius pulled me closer into him and it just felt right. Like two pieces of a puzzle, we fitted together perfectly. I smiled thinking of last night and then it hit me. We didn't use protection. As that thought entered my mind so did many others. Most of all, the thought of me being pregnant. I moved and quickly got off the bed. How could I be so fucking stupid? I had never let anything like this happen before, I had always used protection. Sirius woke up and squinted looking at me. I just kind of looked away because I was mad at him for not remembering either. I was mad at myself but it was easier to be mad at him.

"Come back to bed. I feel cold without you next to me." He said putting on a pouting face.

"No." I said looking for something to put on so he couldn't look at me. I found his shirt and I put it on quickly. He grabbed me by the knees and I fell on top of him because I had lost my balance. He was laughing and kissing my neck. I felt the same fire that was inside me last night push up and I had to pull away.

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately because he could tell something was different about me.

"What's wrong? What's wrong is we didn't use protection last night. I don't know what was going through either one of ours minds." I said getting mad all over again. Sirius sat up and he opened his mouth but then he shut it again. He knew we had a problem on our hands but he didn't know what to do about it. Instead he pulled me back toward him and pulled me close to him so I couldn't move much.

"Don't worry ok? We'll figure something out if anything… happened. No use worrying about it at the moment." He said in my ear and I started to relax because he was right. There was nothing I could do right now so why worry my little heart out? It could be nothing. I heard a knock on the door and we both froze.

"Hey Lily is here." James said and then he left. I exhaled and so did Sirius. We both thought it was Drew. I gave him his shirt back and got dressed in my own clothes.

"I thought it might be Drew." Sirius said with a look of relief on his face.

"Same here." I said pulling on my jeans. Sirius pulled me toward him and he started to nibble on my ear.

"Stop." I said moaning because it felt so good.

"You know you want to." He whispered and he kissed me biting my lower lip. I hated it when he did that because then I couldn't get enough of him. I forced myself to get away from him and I brushed through my hair with my fingers. Lily was here and we needed to get out of the room before Drew discovered we had slept together.

"LILY!" I said running to her and hugging her. Once we all settled down and stopped talking a mile a minute Sirius came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He rubbed his cheek against mine and I bit my lower lip because he muscles at the bottom of my stomach were reacting to his touch. Lily winked at me and then she went back to listening to James who seemed to be in a much better mood since she came. Drew finally came out of his room in his boxers rubbing his eyes. He saw Lily and nodded toward her as he went to the kitchen. There was a knock on the door and I went to get it with Sirius still holding on tight making us both trip and slip but not falling. I opened the door and then I quickly shut it. I just had to remember that they couldn't see us. I went into the living room and motioned for us all to get together in a small circle.

"They got to be here. I heard Shawn say he saw her." I heard Micah's voice say walking into the house. Drew's face turned red with anger and he was looking ready to jump at them. The charm prevented them from seeing us in the house so we were safe. Sirius and I held Drew back before he could go after them.

"It looks like the place hasn't been lived in. Maybe he thought he saw her." John said and I closed my eyes wishing this wasn't happening. Just when everything was going great something always had to happen. I was afraid to talk because I didn't know whether or not they would be able to hear us. John came within a foot of us and we all held our breath. James started lose his balance and Lily and I had to catch him before he made any noise which made us lose our balance. It was quite funny if you saw us. All of us were holding each other, making sure no one made a sound. As soon as the front door closed and they were gone we all fell into a pile on the ground laughing. All of us except Drew who was going toward the door.

"Drew! Don't. Not now." I said because if he left and they were still around they would see him and our cover would be blown. He stopped and took a deep breath before leaving us in the living room and going straight to his room. I was worried about him all the time now. He tried to act so carefree but I knew that he wasn't. He had bottled up his anger and I was afraid of what would happen once it was let out.

"He'll be fine." Sirius said. I nodded and took my eyes off the door.


	41. Chapter 41

A week at the beach and it felt like life was so beautiful. Lily and I were always talking and tanning in the sun while the guys would play in the water. Occasionally Sirius and James would grab us and throw us in. That was never cool because we didn't want to get wet.

"They are going to be jealous of our tans when we get back to school." Lily laughed one day when we were making sandwiches for lunch. Drew had met someone on the beach and he wanted to bring her over for the cook out which was fine with me. I was happy that he was happy. We were having this big cook out with all American food. Hot dogs, Hamburgers, potato salad, and other things too. I looked at the plate of sandwiches on the counter behind us and there were only two left.

"Lily, how many have you made?" I asked her. She looked at the plate.

"More than two." She said laughing.

"Man, those guys can eat." I said taking the last two and putting them in front of us. We were running low on bread and we were hungry also.

"So any thing new between you and Sirius?" She asked after a while. We had made two more and we were sitting at the table eating lunch. I wasn't sure if I should tell her what had happened that night. I wasn't pregnant, that was for sure and when I found out Sirius and I had sex again with protection this time. Drew knew because he kept making snide remarks about it and then he would look at me but I couldn't look him in the eye. I was surprised that he was killing Sirius yet.

"I had sex with him." I said looking everywhere but at her eyes. When I didn't hear anything from her I looked up and she had her mouth wide open and he eyes were bulging out of her head.

"Are you serious?" She asked me. I laughed a little because I loved it when people said that.

"No, but I know him pretty well." I said. She ignored my last comment and continued to eat. I thought that she might want to drop it so I didn't say anything else.

"What did it feel like?" She asked me. I had a flashback to that night and I smiled. He was so gorgeous and he was so talented and just… great.

"Incredible." I said and she laughed when she saw the look on my face.

"Did it hurt?" She asked me pretending like she didn't care. I was wondering why she was so interested in that.

"Why do you want to know? You are thinking about…" And then I smiled and laughed. She blushed.

"YOU ARE!" I squealed and she laughed nervously.

"Calm down. I'm just curious. I'm not ready yet." She said and went back to her sandwich.

"It didn't hurt with Sirius but with John it did." I said after a while. I didn't really want to think about him at all but that was the first thing that came to my mind. She was about to say something but then she closed her mouth. I looked behind me and Sirius was standing there with James and they both looked awkward. How much had they heard? Sirius sat in the chair next to him and me and James started to talk about anything but what we were chatting about earlier. Later on Sirius took me by the hand and led me down the beach, no one was there. We sat in the sand just watching the waves, as they seemed to be coming closer to us. Sirius turned to me and I looked at him. He got closer and his long fingers traced the line of my lips. I smiled trying not to show how turned on I was, trying to hide the instant heat between my legs.

"Ash?" He asked in a dangerous voice that would get us in trouble.

"No." I said moving a little.

"Why not?" He asked.

"No! We don't have any protection." I said thinking of reason not to do it in a public place even though my body was aching or him. I wanted to give in; I wanted to be in his arms having him inside me.

"You are driving me crazy, you know that?" He asked. I shook my head and went back to watching the waves but he wasn't going to give up easily. His hand slid up my thigh under my shorts and underwear, delicately touching and kissing me on the mouth. My body was reacting begging for more.

"You know you want to." He laughed against my mouth. I pushed him away and got up to go back to the house. He followed me.

"I'm sorry baby, I just need you so bad." He said.

"We could have done it at home." I said.

"Oh so that's it? You don't want to go public." He said laughing.

"Why would I? I'm sorry but that's not a turn on for me." I said reaching the door. He rapped his fingers around my hand and twisted me around to look at him.

"This cant be regular Sirius, we can't keep doing it all the time. Especially at school." I said shuddering to think of Dumbledore finding out. How embarrassing.

"I know, that's why we should get our jollies in now." He said and laughed. I shook my head and went inside. Everyone seemed to be in bed or out. He followed me to my room.

"Not tonight, I'm tired." I said sighing. He wrapped his arms around me started to kiss my neck and then my mouth.

"I can wake you up." He said seductively. I bit my lower lip and gave in. We used protection of course because we weren't going to be stupid again. I didn't want him to keep thinking he could just come and sweet talk me and I would have sex with him. I didn't want to feel like a whore. Why was it that sex did that to me? I felt like whore even though it was just with one man and it was the man I loved. I loved everything about him, his personality, the way he held me possessively as if to say back off to any other guy. I loved being his but at sometimes it got rather dull.

Remus ended up making it for the last three weeks of summer vacation. We all partied and had fun and we had tiny water wars in the back yard and on the beach. It was a great time. And our entire summer was stress free and death eater free. We all stayed at the Leaky Cauldron the night before we had to go to Hogwarts. I couldn't believe that we only had one more year before we were out of there forever and it was the only place I felt safe. Well, besides being in Sirius' arms.

"I'm Head Boy! I cant believe that I am Head Boy I thought for sure that Remus would be Head Boy or one of the Prewetts." James said when we were eating dinner together.

"I can't believe your head boy either." Lily said.

"Yeah, how did that happen? You're worse than me." Sirius said.

"Dumbledore must have his reasons." Remus said. I was surprised because Remus was taking it rather calmly. I myself would be a tad sour. On the train the next day we all sat together except James and Lily who had to talk to the prefects. I was tired because I didn't get much sleep because of the kitten that Sirius had gotten me for a birthday present. It was the cutest kitten in the world but she kept clawing at my feet when I was sleeping. I rested my head on Sirius' shoulder and I just closed my eyes when the door slid open scaring me a bit.

"NO! Just go away!" I heard Marlene McKinnon say. She looked like she was close to tears. I saw Fabian come toward her but she slammed the door in his face.

"Marlene what's wrong?" I asked hugging her. By now she was in tears but she was trying to cover them up.

"I'm sorry to barge in here like this. Its Fabian, we got into this huge fight…" She said crying. I could barely understand her. When she had settled down I got her to talk again.

"I don't know how you and Sirius do it… I mean we have been together a little longer than you and it seems as if we are always fighting lately and today it just escalated. And I didn't know what I said to make him so mad but he just went off and his brother joined in and I was so mad I just left. They are rotten when they get mad and gang up on you together…" She said dabbing her eyes. After a little while she left to patch things up with him. I advised her against it but she went anyway.

"Why shouldn't she patch things up with him?" Sirius asked once she left.

"Did you see her? If he can do that to her then they aren't a great couple." I said sitting back next to him.

"A little fight doesn't hurt anyone. It adds excitement." He argued.

"Is that why you are starting this argument?" I asked him.

"Maybe." He said grinning and I slapped him playfully and he just laughed pulling me closer to him. I laid my head in the crook of his arm and I could hear his heart beat.

"I can hear your heart beat." I said and I thought of that dream.

"Yeah? I'm glad as long as it's beating." He said and I smiled. That wasn't so corny. The feast was huge and Sirius ate like there was no tomorrow. I ate a little bit because I wasn't so hungry. We went to bed and we started our time at Hogwarts with a great start. This year was going to be great. It had to be because it was our last. The next day was slow and I was bored out of my mind. All of my classes were reviewing what had happened last year and the year before that. They were making sure we were prepared for our N.E.W.T.s. I piece of paper flew onto my desk. It was in the shape of a heart. I looked back at Sirius who winked and I smiled opening the letter.

'I cant stop thinking about your body.' It said I laughed and the teacher glanced at me. I gave an appoligetic look.

"Would you like to tell me whats so funny?" The DADA teacher asked.

"Nothing sir." I said putting my head down. Normally I would have said some smart ass comment but I couldn't think of anything. I wrote back to him.

'You can think but you cant touch.' And I threw it at him. It hit his eye and he grunted. I tried not to laugh as the teacher asked him what was wrong.

"Noting sir, I just poked myself in the eye with my wand." He said and the class burst out laughing. The teacher scolded him to pay more attention and then the letter flew back onto my desk.

'Thanks for hitting me, not I cant look and touch.' He said and I laughed quietly. Lily peered over my shoulder and I showed he what he had wrote. She giggled and I looked to see Sirius turning bright red.


	42. Chapter 42

"Do you always show our personal business to everyone?" He asked once we were in the halls.

"Yup." I said giving him a kiss. It was habit now; I just gave him a kiss every time I saw him. It wasn't a hungry kiss or and nice soft kiss. It was just a required kiss and it felt like clockwork. And part of me long for the routine of everything but I also hated it because it made me think of my parents.

"No." He said stopping in the middle over the hall. He bent down and kissed me making me feel breathless. It was like he read my mind. Then he rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.

"That's more like it. I don't want any routine kisses." He said and I smiled because we were so alike. We thought the same way and we were both extremely stubborn. But of course he was more pig headed than me.

"You read my mind all the time." I said laughing and he pulled me into him as we walked to the common room. Lily and James were sitting next to each other holding hands.

"Oh my God, are you guys? Did you?" But I couldn't finish because Lily was nodded excitedly. We started to jump up and down and giggle.

"Okay, that's a little weird." James said laughing bringing Lily onto his lap and kissing her. I knew they were excited and happy. They were definitely getting married one day.

"Finally your together, I didn't know when it was going to happen." Remus said lounging in a chair. He seemed more relaxed and more at ease with himself lately. Maybe it was because of the fact that more people knew about his secret and they didn't care. Because we didn't care, we loved Remus as much as we all loved each other.

"Yeah, well, I asked her today in DADA." James said smiling at her as if she was a precious jewel.

"So that's what you were writing to her about? He started the whole note fiasco." Sirius said and he turned to me when he said the second part.

"But I was smooth, I didn't almost get caught." James said laughing at him.

"It's not my fault my girlfriend can't throw." Sirius said.

"Excuse me! But I happen to be the best Chaser in this school and I have great aim… how do you know I wasn't aiming for your eye?" I asked him smiling.

"You're a cruel, cruel girl." He said pulling me even closer to him. Any closer and I would have to be him. It seemed as if he wanted me to constantly be the closest I could possibly be to him. As if I was going to disappear or reject him.

"Well since you asked her and this is a great occasion I think right now would be a great time." Sirius said getting me off his lap.

"A great time for what?" I asked him and he was on one knee. It looked cheesy as if it was in one of those soap operas.

"Ash, will you marry me?" He asked opening a box to reveal an incredible ring. A white gold princess cut diamond ring. I stopped breathing because I was so thrown off. I thought we had talked about this earlier. This was rushing everything way too much.

"Sirius…" I started and then about a thousand white daisies fell all around us. White Daisies were my favorite and he knew it. It was such a romantic and sweet gesture but I couldn't possibly say yes. This was rushing things way too much. I wasn't ready for marriage or any type of huge commitment.

"We need to talk." I said pulling him away from the group of people who were all oohing and ahhing.

"What's wrong?" He asked. He had to know, I mean it wasn't more than 3 or 4 months since I talked to him about this. I mean I TOLD him we were too young and we should rush this.

"Sirius, its like I said before, we are rushing everything. I don't want to rush. We don't need to rush. We've only been together for a year and your making me feel as if we have to but we don't. We have our entire lives ahead of us. It's a huge commitment." I said. I knew I was babbling but I couldn't help it. He looked crushed.

"A huge commitment? What do you plan on going out with other guys? You say you love me and yet you don't want to make the commitment?" He asked slowly.

"Sirius, that's not what I mean. I do love you… I just don't want to make a mistake." I said quietly.

"You think me… this is a mistake?" He asked gesturing between us with his hands.

"No, its not. I just don't want to get married and then in a couple of years when we changed and everything I don't want us to break up. I love you so much right now but things change over the years." I said. I knew I was wrong but I didn't want to hurt his feelings and I didn't want to break up.

"You're blowing smoke out of your ass and you know it." He said walking away. I watched him walk away and I wasn't sure if we had broken up or not.

"Sirius!" I said and he stopped. I came up to him.

"I just have to think ok? I can't rush into anything." I said.

"You know what? I always thought that I didn't deserve you but I know that right now I deserve better than this." He said and I stood there motionless. He was right, he was the most perfect romantic guy alive and he deserved more than this but I still felt rushed. I loved him more than anything and I didn't want to lose him. But could I bring myself to commit? It was so hard, I trusted him and that was a lot of me already. Could I marry him? I mean it wasn't like he was asking me to run out and get married to him tonight. It would just be an engagement.

"Sirius…" I saw all the faces looking at me in the common room.

"Sirius, you're right. You do deserve better…." I said stepping slower to him. He still had his back to me. I got close enough and turned him around so I could talk to his face. He had a hurt expression on his face.

"I'm sorry. I'm just afraid." I whispered. He bent down and looked me in the eyes holding me by the shoulder.

"Afraid of what? Being taken forever?" He asked trying to joke.

"No, afraid of losing you." I whispered looking into his eyes.

"What?"

"I cant lose you. Everyone I get too close to either dies or turns and I feel like I have gotten to close to you already." I said and I felt tears running down my cheeks. I started to think of my parents, Micah, John, and my grandfather. They were all dead or they turned. I didn't want that to happen with Sirius. I couldn't lose him; I knew I wouldn't be strong enough to survive then.

"You wont lose me. Like I said before, I am a strong wizard and I wont let anyone take you or take me because I believe that deep down we are meant to spend the rest of our lives with each other." He said kissing away my tears. I giggled because he could be so corny at times and yet at the same time romantic.

"Sirius?" I asked looking up at him. People were still looking.

"What?" He asked me.

"Will you marry me?" I asked him. He looked down at my empty hands.

"Not without a ring." He joked and everyone around us started to laugh.

"Fine." I said turning to leave him. He pulled me back into his arms and laughed at he kissed me. The whole common room started to clap and laugh. I heard a group of girls sigh and I laughed again. Wow, this was going to spread like wild fire around school.

"I think this is for you." He said slipping the ring onto my ring finger and I admired it. It was the perfect fit and I loved it. I looked at it and I felt all skirmish inside. I felt unsettled and uncertain until Sirius pulled me into his safe arms and kissed me.

"I love you." He said against my lips. I kissed him again and all worry was wiped from my mind. The next couple of days I was approached my people I had never even seen before and they congratulating Sirius and me. Professor Dumbledore even congratulated us. I wonder what my parents would think. I brought it up at Quidditch practice with Drew.

"What do you think mom and dad would say if there were still here?" I asked him. He glanced at me sideways. We were both sitting on the grass waiting for James to get finished with the new beater and seeker on the team.

"I don't know, I think mom would be proud but dad would be like… you're too young." He said mimicking our dad's voice.

"You think mom would be proud?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I mean after she got over the initial shock first but she would. You know her, she is more like the stay at home wife type of deal." He said.

"Yeah but she used to be like us remember? She was the top Auror before she had us. I'm proud of her. Even if she turned old fashioned on us." I said.

"Yeah but it makes you wonder why she became the stay at home mom you know. I mean she was the best of the best and then she just trades it all in for car pools and casserole recipes? Why? Where is the excitement in that?" He asked.

"You know Grandma was never around because of her job and what not. Mom just wanted to be there for us at all times." I said.

"And look where she ended up." Drew said bitterly.

"Its not their fault, you need to stop blaming them." I said.

"It is their fault. They never should have pushed us out of there. We could have helped and then they would still be here today and we would be with them. And everything would be fine. Life would be fine." He said getting angry.

"They did what they thought was best…" I started to say.

"But it wasn't the best. Here we are, orphans and we have no place to go or anything to do but we keep putting our friends and their families in danger." He yelled. He got up and stalked off the field. I had learned long ago that when Drew was mad it was best just to let him cool down before trying to talk some sense into him. He was just angry, I was angry too but not at them. I was angry with Voldermort and his followers because they were making life difficult.

"Hey, is everything ok?" Sirius asked once Drew had left completely. James was still yelled after him to come back right away.

"Yeah, just peachy." I said pulling at the grass.


	43. Chapter 43

Drew told me he was sorry for yelling at me about a week later and I told him I knew how he was feeling because in truth, I did. I used to be angry with our parents too because they left us. We had our first Quidditch match of the year and it was against Slytherin and we kicked butt. The whole school knew about the engagement and they thought it was so cute. Everyone except the Slytherins of course but we didn't care about them so it didn't matter.

"I hate him." Sirius said staring at the Slytherin table. I followed his gaze to see Snape sitting there eating his dinner quietly.

"Don't worry about him." I said getting back to my dinner but Sirius wouldn't stop staring at him. Earlier that day Snape had gotten Sirius almost expelled because of a duel they had had. But luckily they both barely scraped by with a months worth of detention. I wanted to talk to Sirius more but I had some extra homework from Mad eye Moody who we had met at the beginning of the school year. He was riding us long and hard and I could barely keep up with Quidditch, school and Auror training.

"Ash, I need to talk to you and Drew." James said once the workload had gotten too much for him too. He was one of the most brilliant guys I knew and he couldn't keep up between being Quidditch Captain, Head Boy, Classes, and Auror training.

"What?" Drew had asked he was sitting with another girl who was in a year below us. I was noticing a trend of younger girls here.

"I cant continue being the captain. Not with everything I have to do. Would you guys want to be? I'm asking you because you're older than the other team members." He said. I looked at Drew and we both kind of gave a wishy washy nod.

"Great," He said cheerfully.

"Wait, what about Sirius? Don't you want to be Captain? I mean you have been here longer." I asked him. He looked at me and smiled.

"I don't want any more responsibility. You know me." He said with a grin. I was happy to finally see him smile.

"Ok, we will." I said and Drew and I started to talk about all the plays we could think of off the top of our heads. I noticed Sirius and Snape were having a stare down and most of the Hall was emptying out.

"Baby, come on." I said pulling him away. I saw a smug smile on Snapes face, as I had to drag Sirius out of the hall.

"Hey Padfoot, we are still on for tonight. Right?" James asked. He had his arm lazily around Lily as we were walking to the common room.

"What? Huh? Oh yeah. Definitely. You know I wouldn't miss it." Sirius said relaxing a little and pulling me into him. When he had his arm around my waist we could walk side by side in perfect harmony because we knew each other's walk so well. I knew what they were doing tonight. It was a full moon, I was glad they still had their fun as a group. I kissed Sirius goodnight and he pulled me back into his arms before he let go of my hand to let me go to bed.

"I thought I said no routine kisses?" He said kissing me in a way that made my knees go weak. I smiled and left him standing there watching me leave. I loved him so much I thought as I settled down into bed.

The next morning I woke up and stretched. Ready for a new day, a new day in school and a new day of studying. I thought the last thought with a sour look on my face. I loved learning new things but I hated being tested on them. And tonight Mad Eye was going to test us on the jinxes and curses that we had learned last week. I hadn't practiced them as much as I should have because I was so busy with Quidditch and N.E.W.T.s studying. Lily and I were talking about the new band everyone was starting to love. I loved the way they had a certain beat to their music and made me want to dance. Lily just thought the lead singer was cute. We sat down at the table and Sirius seemed to be pushed away from everyone else in the group. James and Remus both looked tired and really mad. Sirius looked dazed.

"What's wrong baby?" I asked him kissing him on the ear. He pulled away from me and shrugged.

"WHAT!" I heard Lily say loudly. She looked mad and surprised. I looked at Sirius and he just looked away.

"What's going on?" I asked quietly so no one would hear. James shook his head and Lily came toward me as if she was telling a secret. But before I could hear what she was going to say Sirius yanked me out of my seat and dragged me out of the Hall.

"What the hell…" I said standing up once we had left. Sirius started to pull me toward an empty classroom and I yanked away and started to walk on my own. I had legs and I was going to use them.

"I need to tell you something." He said looking down at his feet.

"It cant be as bad as you are making it seem." I said lifting his chin so he could look at me but he refused to look at me.

"It is… I um, you know how I was mad at Snape right? Well uh, he was snooping around and he was following me to the… um… Whomping Willow and well I didn't stop him… and he um… he came into contact with Remus and I uh, I didn't try to save him…James saved him." He said finally looking up at me. I knew he could see the horrible look on my face.

"You could have killed him. Not to mention what Remus must be feeling right now! You know how he felt when he almost killed me… how could you… why would you… did you see him?" I asked him. Sirius nodded looking back at the floor. I was amazed at how Sirius could do that. I thought of him as the gentlest loving person in the world and it never occurred to me that he could be capable of… murder.

"Yeah I did know he was coming but I didn't stop him… something inside of me told me to let him find out for himself. Scare the crap out of him you know. I never dreamed he would come in contact with Remus…" Sirius started.

"No don't give me that. You knew where Remus was and you knew that Snape was heading for him… God, Sirius…. I don't even know you." I said finally. I was so disgusted with his behavior that I couldn't stand to be in the same room as him. I turned and I left him standing there. I didn't talk to him or look at him for the rest of the day. Neither did James, Remus, or Lily. After about a week of the silent treatment and me not being anyway near him, girls started to stop me in the halls to ask if we had broken up. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything at all. Soon it was all over the school that Sirius was single again. And I didn't care because I couldn't even bring myself to look at him. I never thought in a million years that Sirius would be capable of murder. And this was a side of him that I didn't know and I never would have gotten to know him if I had known about it.

"Ash, can we talk?" Sirius asked me one day after class. I stopped because he grabbed my arm and swung me into a classroom. I tried to get past him but he wouldn't let me.

"Sirius, let me go." I said quietly.

"No, we need to talk… are you or have you broken up with me?" He asked me. I looked at the floor and then finally at him.

"Sirius, I never knew this side of you and I don't think I want to know it… at all." I said taking the rings out of my pocket and placing them in his hand and closing it. He closed he eyes and I could feel him shaking. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to do it in front of him. I slid past him and ran to the nearest bathroom. That was so hard for me to give the rings back but I didn't know what else to do. I loved him, my body loved him but I couldn't deal with that part of him. I felt like there was now an empty hole within me and I couldn't fill it no matter how much I cried. I heard the door open and I saw his shoes come just outside my door.

"My behavior was inexcusable and I hope that one day you can forgive me. I don't even love myself right now I know that if I don't love me then why should you? But I don't want us to break up. I know that I never should have done what I did. It was stupid of me, I took a childish grudge and turned it into something that was completely out of my control." He said trying to explain. I stopped crying and I sat there listening.

"Ash, we cant break up. Please, anything but this. I don't know what I will do without you. I love you so much and that will never change. I can be a better person, I will never pull a stunt like that again because when I saw Remus lunge after Snape like that I felt empty, cold and I never want to feel like that again. EVER!" He said. I stood up and opened the door to reveal a tear-streaked face. Sirius had been crying and so had I. I didn't want to break up with him.

"James forgave me and so did Remus. Lily even forgave me after she gave me a lecture. I don't expect you to forgive me as easily but let me prove to you that I am not like the person that you think I am. Because I'm not." He said putting the rings back on my fingers. He closed my hand around them and left.

I never put the rings back on and Sirius noticed but at least he didn't say anything. We were hanging out in one big group again. Mad Eye Moody had been a lot harder on Sirius since the incident but Sirius didn't seem to mind. A month had passed since he gave the rings back to me and we had had polite conversations but nothing like before. I had half a mind to forgive him fully and go back to the way things were before because he did save my life even though he put Snape's in danger. We were at a Hogsmeade weekend and I was excited because of the change of scenery.

"Oh my God!" Sirius said before running off in the opposite direction. I glanced in that direction and I saw a group of Death Eaters. I ran after him ready to fight along with the rest of the group. We jinxed and fought and bond our way through the mess of Death Eaters. Sirius was ahead of me and Drew kept to my side at all times in case. I was trying to get closer to Sirius in case something happened to him but more and more Death Eaters were coming. I saw most of the people in the Order appear and they were fighting with us. Sirius stunned someone, I looked as I heard him or her shout out. What is saw made me run straight for him. He was trying to help a little boy who had gotten mixed up in the fight. He was unconscious on the floor.

"Where are his parents?" I demanded to know looking around wildly.

"I don't know but we have to help him. We need to get him to a safe place before he gets hurt even more." Sirius said picking up the little boy and running for safety. All the shops were closed except for the Hog's Head. We ran in there and placed the boy on the ground. Something felt wrong and I felt for his pulse, he was dead and cold. I looked up at Sirius and he shook his head. This boy didn't live around here, he was a muggle I could tell by the clothes and the way his hair was cut.

"No." Sirius said and then we heard a laugh behind us. I turned to see Voldermort standing there.

"I thought you would fall for it. You're too compassionate. You should only think about number one, you." He said talking to me and obviously ignoring Sirius.

"Sorry, I'm not as conceited as you." I said through clenched teeth. I was already calculating a way to get out of here.

"I'm not conceited, just convinced that I am the best." He said.

"How long did it take you to come up with that corny thing?" I asked laughing. I stopped laughing when I felt a sharp pain and my breathing was irregular. Sirius rushed to my side and then the pain stopped. I hated that pain almost as much as I hated Voldermort. I suddenly felt the urge to be in two places at once. I wanted to stay here with Sirius and yet be with Drew or to get some help. I felt my body go limp and I was standing by the door looking at Voldermort's back and Sirius' wide eyes. He was trying to play it off that he hadn't just seen me.

"What's wrong with her?" Voldermort asked. I quickly opened the door and he turned to see me. I screamed Drew's name and Dumbledore appeared. Voldermort looked at him they started to duel immediately and I felt myself retreat back into my body. It was one of the weirdest experiences ever. I took Sirius' hand and we ran under a table for protection.


	44. Chapter 44

"Shouldn't we help him?" Sirius asked ducking when a flash of light came at us.

"I'm sure he can take care of himself. We need to get out of here." I said looking around and ducking when another shot came toward us.

"Ash? If anything happens to us I want you to know that I love you. I have loved you since the day I met you on the train. When you fell onto me I knew immediately that my life would never be the same again." He said. I bit my bottom lip and I forgot all about the things that were happening around us. I bent closer toward him and we kissed. He put his hand in my hair to steady my head and I placed a hand on his cheek. I had known my life would never be the same again either. I was just too afraid to admit it. Another ray of light came toward us and the table broke in half. We ducked behind the counter of the bar before another one could hit us. We sat there for a while before we heard a loud crack and the fighting stopped.

"You can come out now." I heard Dumbledore say. I peeked over the counter to make sure it was Dumbledore and not Voldermort pretending. We had emerged from behind the counter and Dumbledore was bending over the little boy on the floor.

"We tried to save him." Sirius said.

"I know." He said closing the little boy's eyes. I looked away because I didn't want to see anymore. Sirius wrapped his arms around me and I felt safe and secure again. I cant believe I had thought about giving this up at one time. I know what Sirius did was wrong but in the end he couldn't really go through with it and no one did end up getting hurt. As long as he learned his lesson. We went back to the school and at dinner that night Dumbledore announced that there was to be no more Hogsmeade trips until further notice.

"Ashleigh Corrine Alexandra Hewitt!" Drew said the second I saw him. I let go of Sirius and we made our way toward the group in the common room.

"I thought we agreed to stick together in case anything happened. And then I turn around and your gone!" He said rather loudly.

"I know…" I started.

"I mean how are we supposed to stick together if you run off the minute I turn my back to help someone?" He asked.

"Drew, I had to help…" I started again.

"Ash, I don't want anything to happen to either of us and you know that…." I grabbing his solders interrupted him.

"I was helping Sirius save a little boy. He was surrounded and he needed to get the boy out of there." I said and then I saw Drew's face soften. We told him what had happened and then we told him that the boy didn't survive. He was dead before we tried to save him.

"Man, Voldermort wants you guys bad." James said shaking his head.

"Yeah. It definitely sucks." I said playing with Sirius' fingers. We talked a little bit more before everyone kind of scattered to be on his or her own. Remus and Peter went to bed. Drew went to do some homework and James and Lily went into their own corner. Sirius and I sat on the couch together talking. I had my legs on his lap and he was playing with my shoelace.

"So are we back together? I don't want to pressure you…" I stopped him from saying anything else by kissing him.

"So is that a yes?" He asked grinning

"No, it's a no, I just had to see if you were still a good kisser." I said giggling because he started to tickle me. He was on top of me and I felt my body reacting to his touch. He stopped tickling me and we looked into each other's eyes. It was like I could see his soul and I felt instantly connected with him and suddenly out of breath.

"you're incredible." He breathed on my lips and all I wanted to do was be with him all night.

"I've missed you… so much." I said and he kissed me again. I had to pull myself out from under him to prevent anything from happening. He groaned and tried to pull me back but I shook my head no.

"Oh my god, I wish we could go back in time to this summer." He whispered in my ear. I smiled and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"I'm going to go to bed." I said getting up. He pulled me back and dipped me giving me one last kiss. I smiled and went to bed. I was tired and I was glad to finally fall asleep.

A woman was giving birth to a baby and I was right in the middle on the room watching. The baby was a small little boy who was crying and it looked a lot like Drew. Was that Drew's baby? I heard the lady scream and then she was quiet. I looked down into her eyes and they looked empty and hollow. The doctors started to rush around and attend to the mother who was on the bed. The baby was laying to the side all alone with no one to care for it and I just wanted to reach out and hold it, cuddle it and protect it. The colors all around me started to swirl around me and I could see the sun setting from the beach house. Three little kids were running around and playing in the sand.

Lily woke me up and we got ready together talking about Sirius and James the whole time. We went down to the Great Hall and neither one of them were there. We sat and ate anyway wondering if they had slept in. Drew sat next to me and he pushed me in the shoulder with his. I pushed him back and then we laughed.

"Did you…?" He asked.

"Yeah… it was weird. Like the baby looked like you." I said.

"What? No, its looked like you. After all you were giving birth." He said.

"What? That's not that I saw." I said because I had seen someone completely different giving birth and a baby that looked like him when he was a baby. I saw the baby pictures and it was obvious that it was his.

"But that's what I saw… could we be having different dreams?" He asked me.

"It could be possible. If we are I know something you don't know!" I chanted and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Oh real mature." He said rolling his eyes. And then he looked at me and stuck out his tongue.

"Hey do you know where Sirius and James are?" I asked him since he lived in the same dorm as them.

"NO, but we have a game this morning and they better remember." He said through gritted teeth. Since he and I have become captain he has been more on the edge. I wanted to have fun and he wanted to win.

"We'll win." I said rubbing his back to comfort him and calm his nerves. I popped a mentos into my mouth. When we were in America I bought a ton of mentos. I had to stock up because you couldn't find much in England.

"Hey." I heard Sirius say as he sat between Lily and I.

"You're lucky you're here. Drew was about to kick your guys' butts." I said with a grin on my face. He rolled his eyes and gave me a kiss. It felt like a routine kiss and that made me give him a weird look. It wasn't like him to just give me a kiss like that. He was the one who said no routine kisses.

"Sirius?" I wanted to make sue it was him.

"Hm?" He asked eating some breakfast.

"Where am I the most ticklish?" I whispered in his ear. His eyebrow went up and he grinned. He leaned in and nibbled on my ear and I turned beat red because I noticed that Professor McGonagall was watching us. I started to giggle and I knew it was Sirius. Which meant that he had something on his mind and it wasn't me.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Wrong? Nothing." He said.

"Don't lie to me. You gave me a routine kiss… you never give me a routine kiss." I said.

"I did?" He asked. He looked like he was thinking really hard which made me laugh because he had a way of crinkling his nose.

"Yeah, which means you aren't Sirius or you have something on your mind that isn't me." I said playing with his mind.

"I always have you on my mind." He said before giving me a long soft butterfly kiss. The bottom of my stomach started to feel all jumpy.

"Good. You should." I said and he grinned which made my heart skip a beat. I felt out of breath just thinking of his touch. I suddenly realized that I sounded a little weird but thank god no one could read my thoughts.

We went back to Breakfast because the teachers were giving us looks that told us to watch out. Right after breakfast we went straight to the field. I was excited to be playing again, I was even getting sentimental. This would probably be the last year I would be able to play Quidditch and I didn't like that idea. I have always played Quidditch ever since I could remember and I didn't want to stop playing.

"Ok, I need you guys to be more active, in practice it looked like you were barely alive." Drew said. I rolled my eyes.

"What he means is, we're the best this school has to offer and we all know it. We will win because we cant lose, not with a team like this. James and Simon, you guys are the best Chasers in the world. Sam, you are the best Seeker you will catch that thing in record time because of your good eye and fast reflexes. Sirius and Jules, you two beat all Beaters because of the strength and fantastic aim you guys have. Not to mention we have THE best Keeper in the world who can block anything and everything." I said trying to pump them all up. I was hoping that it was working.

"You forgot to mention the most sexiest and perfect chaser." Sirius said grinning. I knew I was blushing but I couldn't stop.

"Thanks." I murmured and we ran out of the locker room and out onto the field. We were playing against the Hufflepuffs. They were so easy to beat because they were so honest and they wouldn't cheat or do anything dishonest. We played long and hard before Sam finally caught the Snitch. She was so graceful when she played, and she could definitely be Pro material. We celebrated and we partied all night that was until Lily had to stop it because it was getting too late.

The next day in Muggle Studies the Professor was trying to teach us how to dance certain dances. He was showing us how to do the waltz and the samba. I was doing really well with both of them because I loved both of those dances. I got to dance with Sirius until the Professor split us up and paired us up with different people. And to my luck I was paired up with Gideon Prewett.

"Hey." He said. I smiled and we started to dance.

"So, you and Sirius seem to be doing well." He said nodding toward my ring. I smiled when I looked at it.

"Yeah… I'm sorry things didn't work out between us," I said because I really did feel sorry. He was such a sweet guy but there was no chemistry.

"No, no, no… Oh my dear children, to be able to do the samba you need chemistry. You cant dance in a truly nice way unless you have chemistry… like these two right here." He said and I saw that he was pointing to us. Gideon and I stopped dancing.

"No, keep dancing, in fact show the whole class how to do it." He said. I could see Sirius' eyes narrow on us. He never did like Gideon since that night we had gone out. Gideon and I reluctantly danced until he stopped us, which was at the end of class. I walked out with Drew and Sirius lagging behind me. Gideon caught up with us and said goodbye. Drew said goodbye too and Sirius and I were left. I grabbed his hand and we went to the lake.

"I thought we had chemistry." He said.

"Of course we do. Don't you feel it? I felt it the second we touched when I fell on you on the train." I said leaning into him.

"Yeah but you have more with Gideon." He said sourly.

"Oh God, Sirius…I do not and you know it. You and I are better dancers together. With you I can feel like I am the most beautiful girl in the world and I feel free." I said.

"You are the most beautiful girl in the world." He whispered in my ear.


	45. Chapter 45

"How can I be the luckiest man on earth? I didn't do anything to deserve you?" He said. We were still sitting by the lake.

"You're you." I said getting up and brushing my butt off. He got up also and grabbed my butt making me jump. I looked back and gave him a surprised look. That was the first time has ever touched my butt like that. He placed his hands on the small of my back and pulled me into him.

"I want you right now." He whispered into my ear before nibbling it. My knees were getting weak and the bottom of my stomach was doing flip-flops. I pulled away from him because I didn't want to do anything.

"Sirius…" I said murmured kind of moaning because he knew exactly where to touch and caress and kiss. This time I pulled myself away and I started to walk backwards. He grinned as he grabbed my hand and followed me back to the castle.

"Lets go to the Shrieking shack. We can have so much fun." Sirius whispered in my ear. We were back in the common room and I was so tired. I didn't realize how tired I was until I had fallen asleep on Sirius' shoulder.

_I heard screams all around me and I couldn't see anything. What was going on? Was I still in the common room? _

"_No! No! Leave them alone!" I heard a girl scream and my whole body started to shake. I couldn't tell what was causing it, it felt like an earthquake. I heard an evil laugh and then silence._

"Ash, Ash! Wake up!" Sirius said shaking me awake. I awoke and I felt the room shaking like in my dream.

"Is this an earthquake?" I asked when the shaking had stopped.

"No, you were having a nightmare and the room started to shake." Sirius said pushing my bangs out of my face. Did I make the room shake?

"I just had a small nightmare." I said quickly before kissing him goodnight. These nightmares weren't helping me at all and they seemed to be making less sense than ever. Before I could see a lot of things. that could help but now it was like I could feel things rather than see them. I had been getting that a lot lately. The pain and sadness I kept feeling all around me in my dreams was overwhelming. I fell back asleep praying that I wouldn't have a dream.

The next morning I had woken up and got ready for classes. I hated going to class, I was so tried lately because I was so busy with class, Auror Training and Quidditch practice. I wanted to give up on Quidditch but that was one of my favorites. After supper we all had Auror training and I wasn't looking forward to it because we were practicing Occulamency. And I was sucking at it, so was Drew, which made me feel a little less like an idiot.

"I told you, it takes time to learn it. Don't worry." Mad Eye Moody had said. But it seemed to be taking more than a little time. It seemed to be taking me forever. I was doing great in everything else.

"All of you are excelling so far. I cant remember a time when I had a class that had so many bright students but even though you're bright you still have to watch your back. Even though I am teaching you all these skills you have so much to learn. For one, you're not indestructible." He said and he looked at Sirius and me when he said it. We looked at each other out of the corners of our eyes. I could see him smiling slightly and I tried to hide my grin.

"I want you to continue working on everything during your Christmas Holiday." He said before leaving. We were all staying at Hogwarts for our Christmas Holiday. Big fun! I thought as we were walking back to the dorm room. Gideon, Fabian and a few others from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were also in the Auror Training class. I jumped on Sirius' back and he was giving me a piggyback ride.

"Race you to the common room!" James said getting Lily on his back. I screamed because I started to fall back but I grabbed on tighter to his neck and he started to run faster. We were all laughing and having fun until Dumbledore stood in the middle of the hallway. Both Sirius and James stopped dead in their tracks and Lily and I fell onto the ground.

"Ouch." I said rubbing my butt. Sirius helped me up and Dumbledore had an amused expression on his face.

"Sorry Professor." Both of the boys murmured.

"You're just having some fun. I don't mind, please continue, and just be careful. Oh and Ash, Sirius… I would stop the shrieking if I were you." He said giving us a knowing look. I turned bright red and so did Sirius. We rushed past him and walked quickly to the common room. Sirius started to laugh and hit him in his arm.

"He knows! I knew it! I told you! Oh my god." I said shaking my head. Sirius was still laughing.

"Do you think he can see everything?" He asked laughing.

"This is not funny, he's my uncle for crying out loud! I am so embarrassed!" I said sitting on the other side of the couch from him. He was still laughing when he told James who started to laugh. Lily didn't think it was at all. Sirius finally saw that I wasn't happy at all, in fact I was mad at him. He slid me closer to him but I shook my head and pulled back to my original seat.

"Baby, I'm sorry. But it was funny." He said trying to hold back the urge to laugh again. I rolled my eyes and left him sitting there. He got up and chased me around the common room so that we were jumping over couches and people. I jumped behind Drew and Sirius couldn't get to me.

"Save me!" I squealed. Drew was trying to let Sirius get me but I refused to let him come near me. Drew finally broke free of me and ran for safety near a laughing Lily. Sirius caught me and picked me up so I was over his head.

"Put me down now… seriously, put me down. PLEASE!" I yelled. I was frightened of heights and he knew it. He set me down and I thanked God that I was safely on the ground.

"I was just trying to make sure you didn't go to bed mad. Yes it was embarrassing but it was also funny… you have to admit it." He said trying to make me look into his eyes.

"Where is the girl I met who had a sense of humor?" He asked me when I finally looked into his eyes. I sighed.

"I'm still here." I said wrapping my arms around him and giving him a kiss. When everyone had left for Christmas break, we were relived to find that we were the only group that was staying Hogwarts with the exception a slytherin first year and a 5th year Hufflepuff. It was just Lily, James, Drew, Sirius, Remus and myself who had stayed. Peter was going to stay but I was secretly glad when he didn't. It was the day before everyone was to return to school. Remus was playing chess against Drew and Lily and James were nowhere in the common room. Sirius and I were sitting by the fire talking.

"You know there is something about Peter that I don't like." I said because we had been talking about something he did the other day.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, he just seems odd and I know this sounds bad but I was secretly glad that he didn't stay for the holiday." I said. I saw anger flash in Sirius' eyes.

"I never thought you of all people would think that of anyone. He's a nice guy, he is just shy that's all." Sirius said suddenly becoming cold toward me.

"I didn't mean to offend you or him, I was just voicing my opinion." I said taking so offense to what he had said. I had the right to my own opinion as much as anyone else.

"Well you did. Nothing is wrong with him and he is a great guy, you just haven't gotten to know him as well as I have." Sirius said before getting up to watch the game of chess. I heard Drew mutter some words and Remus shout out in victory. I glanced over and Drew handed him some money before joining me by the fire.

"Trouble in paradise?" Drew asked with a smile on his face.

"Eh… what about you, this new girl you are seeing. She has stuck around for longer than a few weeks." I said changing the subject.

"Yeah, she's a pretty cool girl." He said looking into the fire. He conjured up a few mugs and filled them with some hot chocolate.

"Thanks… so what was her name again?" I asked. It was getting difficult to keep up with all the girls he has gone out with since Emma.

"Kristine." He said.

"Kristine, do you think she can be more than a girl you are dating?" I asked him. He gave me a sideways grin.

"Yeah, its possible…" He said and we then turned the topic to Quidditch and then we were getting tired so we went to bed getting ready for the time when everyone would come back to school tomorrow afternoon. The next afternoon when everyone came to back school the maurders went off to have some fun, I hadn't really talked to Sirius since last night. We conveniently kept missing each other. In truth, I think he was avoiding me. We all ended up in the Great Hall for supper after Drew and I spent some time practicing our assignments from Mad Eye.

"Hi guys… Sirius." I heard a girl I had noticed from Ravenclaw say. We kind of nodded and Sirius said hello. I wasn't sitting anywhere near him, we had at least three people between us. I saw her sit down next to him and I felt a pang of jealousy but then I realized that Sirius loved me and she could flirt all she wanted. A voice in my head kept reminding me of our argument though. And although he seemed really mad last night we would make up. We had make up, we loved each other. I heard her laugh and I rolled my eyes as I looked over to see her handing him a drink. When I was finished with my meal and I felt full I got up and left for the common room. I had to finish some more homework for DADA. I soon spotted Lily, James, Remus and Peter walk in with a crowd of people. The sat down around me and I kept looking for Sirius hoping he would turn up in just a few seconds.

"Looking for Sirius?" Lily asked noticing me. I sighed and turned my head away from the door determined to let him see me looking for him.

"I'm sure he will be here soon." Remus said touching my arm. I smiled and went back to my essay. Soon had turned into two hours and James and Remus politely volunteered to look for him. That was only after Lily had threatened both of them with a nasty curse if they refused. They returned ten minutes later and they seemed to be looking in every direction but at me.

"What?" I asked them. I wanted to know where he was and what they had seen. Remus looked a little uneasy and James was ruffling his hair.

"He um… well he seemed a bit busy when we found him." James said not looking my in the eye. I got up and left the common room. I was determined to find him, what was he doing? I turned the corner and in plain sight were Sirius and that ravenclaw girl kissing. They had their hands locked around each other and it looked like they were trying to eat each other's faces. I stood there rooted to my spot as I watched them kiss as if it a normal thing to do. As if cheating wasn't a bad thing at all. I felt my heartbreak and tears of rage were running down my cheek. I marched up to him and wretched his face away from hers. He looked at me as if I was doing something wrong. I slapped him and stalked away because I was too angry to talk. I turned back to see what he was doing and they were kissing again. How dare he! I thought as I stormed up to my room. I wasn't going to let anyone see me cry but as soon as I was sure that I was alone in the room I started to bawl.

How could he do that to me? To us? I thought he loved me, we had something incredible going. I loved and trusted him more than anyone else besides Drew. Why would he do this? How could he just dismiss the year and a half of pure bliss? Was I not exciting enough? Did I become unattractive? What was wrong with me? I took a deep breath and reminded myself that it couldn't have been my fault. With the exception of that last minor argument I was a great girlfriend. I heard the door creak open and Lily walked in.

"I jinxed him. He is now coughing up slimy frogs." Lily said sitting down beside me on the bed. I wiped my face and looked at her. I laughed.

"Do you know why?" I asked her sniffling.

"I don't know… all I could hear him saying between coughing up the frogs was that he loved her and he always will…" Lily said regretfully. I bust into tears again but I forced myself to stop almost immediately.

"How can he love her when he has claiming that he has loved me all this time?" I asked, my voice was cracking. Lily conjured up some tissue and handed it to me. I took it and wiped my face and blew my nose so I could breath easier.

"I don't know, but he is an arse. I can't believe he would do that to you." Lily said and we started to rant about the male population, which made me feel a fifty percent better.


	46. Chapter 46

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated at all lately, I have been super busy with two jobs and going to school full time. I totally for got about this fan-fiction because my old comp crashed and I lost everything. I was surfing fanfic and I came across this and I just reread it. I hope that I can update it enough to finish up the story in a timely matter without having to rush the story line. **

With the exception of classes, I didn't leave my room. I went to my classes, I barely showed up at Quidditch practice and the only time I was in the same room as Sirius was when we had Auror training. But I was getting a sick satisfaction when I was jinxing him. The worst part of it all, it didn't seem to faze him one bit that he had broken my heart and torn it into a million unrepairable pieces. I took a deep breath as I entered the room of requirement to go to another auror training class. I didn't want to leave my room at all anymore. I just didn't care about life or anything about it anymore. I was tired of my heart being trampled on over and over again. I was always the victim and I refused to let anything get near my heart again.

"Ashleigh…" Drew whispered when he saw the look on my face. I was the only one there besides Drew so far. I instantly put on a fake smile to assure him that I was doing absolutely fine.

"Don't worry about it, I'm perfectly fine." I said sitting down at a desk and going over last weeks notes.

"I don't think you are. I know that he broke your heart and I know how you feel. You feel completely empty and alone in the world. But its not true. You have me. I will always be here for you and I never will let you down." Drew said hugging me. I wanted to start crying because I knew that he was right. For the moment, I did feel alone and empty but I knew that at one point, I would get over it.

After the final class, Mad Eye exclaimed that we were the most talented young people he had come across.

"You young ones are absolutely ready to fight your way out there. But it wont be a controlled environment out there. Those death eaters are going to play dirty and you cant be afraid to play dirty too. Out there, in the real world, there are no rules and I want you to keep that in mind. I don't want any reports of an of you being lost to the Dark side, or perishing because of a stupid mistake. You will fight and you will win. You have to, this war needs to end." Mad Eye said before walking out of the room quickly. Everyone in the room filed out, except Sirius. He seemed to be lagging behind. I didn't want to be in the same room as him, but I needed to know why he had betrayed my heart.I stood right in front of him as he was putting away his wand and parchment in his bag. He paused and looked up at me, completely at ease. All I could think was that he was a complete cocky jerk.

"Why?" I asked quietly. I was barely able to look at him without my throat closing up and tears threatening to spill.

"Why what?" He asked looking a little confused.

"Why did you break my heart? Why did you kiss her? Why did you say that you loved me?" I asked him, the tears were free flowing now. He crinkled his brow and backed away from me as if I was a freak.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I've never loved you." He said. I felt as if my insides had turned to stone. I felt so desolate and alone.

"Then why did you give me this?!?!?" I yelled at him. I threw the engagement ring, that I had kept in my pocket, at him. He caught it and I saw his face soften before it turned unrecognizable. HE looked at me and handed the ring back to me.

"I have never seen this before in my life." He said before walking past me. This man who stood before me didn't seem like the Sirius I had known these last two years. I pulled him by his arm and twirled him around, he was caught by such surprise that he didn't have time to tense himself for the attack. I pulled his lips closer so that they touched mine and I kissed him with so much passion. There was no way he would be able to forget my now. He pulled away, his eyes were wide open in surprise. He turned around and walked out of the room without another word. I fell to the ground because I was overcome with grief.

"You stay away from him! He is mine and he loves me!" The girl who was all over Sirius said once she saw me in the hall. I looked around and then I realized that she was talking to me. I shrugged and continued walking.

"I said STAY AWAY!" She screamed and she made the mistake of grabbing a hold of my arm. I turned around and I threw her on the ground.

"You ever touch me again, I will make you regret that you ever met me. And by the way, you can have him. Why don't you keep his ring too." I said taking it out of my pocket and dropping it on her pathetic body. I no longer cared what happened when it came to Sirius. I was dead inside and nothing could bring me back.

The last couple of months, I studied and worked hard so that I never had to walk these unfortunate halls again. I never wanted to see Sirius again and I didn't care about him anymore. I just wanted to get out. Drew was getting increasingly serious with Kristine and I was happy for him. But at the same time I felt as if the person I needed at the moment wasn't there for me. He was constantly with Kristine and I was left out in the cold.

I sat next to Peter in the common room when everyone was celebrating. I realized over the last couple of months that maybe Sirius was right the last time we were together. I didn't know Peter at all and it was wrong of me to think badly of him. He was just a little shy and very quiet.

"I'm sorry," I said and then I looked at him. He looked surprised as if there shouldn't be a girl sitting next to him.

"For…For… what?" He asked, not able to get the words out of his mouth quick enough. He was harmless.

"I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to know you. And I'm sorry for judging so quickly. You're a good guy and I shouldn't have judged you because I don't even know you." I said looking down at my hands. He placed his hand on top of mine and I looked up at him. He smiled and I smiled back.

"It's ok. Not a lot of people see me. They usually pay more attention to James or Sirius. I'm used to it." Peter said. Surprisingly, he sounded sincere and very mature.

"It shouldn't be that way. You are a person you know. You deserve just as much as them. You deserve a wonderful girl and fabulous friends. You're a good person." I said looking him in the eye. Before I knew what was happening, Peter was leaning in to kiss me. I pulled back and pulled my hand back. He started to appoligize to me immediately.

"No, Peter. I'm sorry but im just so…. I really cant… I just miss Sirius." I said not knowing exactly what to say or do. I felt bad for making him think that I liked him but I couldn't possibly kiss him.

"No, I'm sorry, I misinterpreted it." He said wringing his hands before getting up and leaving to go to his dorm room. I closed my eyes wishing that none of this had happened. I got up and just went straight to bed. I was tired and I didn't want to celebrate the latest win for our Quidditch team.

_I felt a weird sensation inside of me as I looked all around. I was surrounded by Death Eaters and some of them had taken off their masks. _

"_The Dark Lord no long wishes to keep you alive. We get the pleasure of torturing you and killing you. What a pity your loved ones cant watch." The girl who Sirius had cheated on me with said. I recognized her immediately and she laughed as she pulled of the mask of the Death Eater next to her. I gasped as I saw that it was Sirius.   
"Honey, make her feel pain." She said sweetly. He didn't even flinch as he looked at me. He flicked his wand and I felt unbearable pain vibrate through my body. I couldn't take it and I started to scream. I couldn't believe that Sirius was torturing me, after everything we had been through. I stopped screaming because I didn't want to give them the satisfaction. Instead I just thought of how empty I was feeling and I suddenly I could no longer feel pain. I looked up through my tears and saw Sirius torturing the girl._

"_I love her! I don't know what you did to me but I will never let you come between me and her!" He yelled before there was a flash of green light and he fell to the ground. The last thing I saw was his face, his eyes were hollow and I started to scream._

I sat up looking all around me. That girl, she was a Death Eater and she had some kind of spell on Sirius. How could she be controlling me? The Imperius Curse? But that cant because Sirius was the best at deflecting and fighting off the effects of the Imperious Curse. Mad Eye said he was the best he had seen when it came to fighting it off. What could she be controlling him with? I thought as I sat up the rest of the night pondering what it was that she had on him.

The next day was Saturday and instead of spending it in my room sulking, I went to the library. I planned on working long and hard to make sure I knew exactly what she was doing. I wasn't going to let her have my man without a fight. I loved him and I wanted him back. He completed me and I couldn't live without him. Something inside of me was extinguished when I saw them kiss. I was no longer myself becase I didn't have a thirst for life anymore. I no longer cared what happened to me because my true love had broken me.

"What are you doing?" Drew asked once I was in the middle of everything. I had 6 books laid out in front of me on the table. I wasn't in the mood to explain myself and for some reason I didn't have to. He picked up a book behind him and handed it to me. It already had some paged marked for me to look at. The title of the book was, Potions for a Lover. I gave him a puzzled look and he sat down across from me.

"So last night I was thinking right, after that dream, I thought about what it could be that was holding his brain hostage and weird he was lately. Like for example, he no longer joked and laughed with James anymore. He just went straight to bed AND he missed two of those monthly visits." Drew said winking at me. I knew what he was talking about.

"That doesn't sound like him at all. He is all about his friends. He would never stand them up, for anything." I said suddenly intrigued. I knew he was acting weird but I had been holed up for so long that I didn't take any notice.

"Exactly, so I thought about the Imperious Curse, but that cant be it, and then I thought about everything else and this is what I came up with. I remember back home, John found this book in the library and he stole it. We used to joke about how we would give you girls a love potion and it hit me. There are a few potions in here that can give the person you kiss next, complete control. Its weird. But she had to have known that you guys were fighting to make sure that you wouldn't be the next person to kiss him. " He said plucking the book from my hand. He turned to a page and showed it to me. He was standing behind me and he was pointing out things over my shoulder. I was completely dumbfounded. I didn't know how to react.

"How does the spell get broken?" I asked. He turned the next page and I read what it said. The person in control had to skip the weekly potion that needs to be given.

"So what night did she give him the potion?" I asked.

"It was a Saturday night." He said grinning at me. I suddenly knew that I had to save him, and that meant that I had to kidnap him.


	47. Chapter 47

It was Saturday night tonight and I was relaxing in the common room with a book in my lap. I was basically watching the door, waiting for Sirius to walk through. I needed him to be alone so that I could keep him in my grasp. Drew and I devised a plan to save him. We got the whole gang in on the plan. James and Remus were supposed to distract Sirius long enough to make sure that Drew could somehow get his clothes dirty enough so that he would be forced to come in and change. Lily had to keep the girl, Sally, busy so that she couldn't cram that potion down his throat before it was too late. My job was to trap him in his room and do everything I had to so that he didn't leave.

"I'm sorry mate, I swear I didn't mean to throw you in the lake." Drew said winking at me. Sirius looked like a drowned rat.

"Don't worry about it." Sirius said walking up to his dorm. Lily came bursting through the portrait hole. I looked at her expectantly and she shook her head no. Good, Sally hadn't been able to poison Sirius yet. I glanced around the common room and the only people who were left in here were occupied with something. I quietly slipped into the stairway to the boys' dormitories. Without knocking, I barged into the room and froze Sirius. Luckily, he had only taken his shirt off. I wasn't sure how long he would stay frozen but knew that I needed to make him defenseless. I gathered up all his clothes all around him and I hid them well. I muttered a charm and his boxers turned into a set of frilly underwear. Knowing him, he wouldn't step foot out of this room without some real clothes on. I then retrieved his wand and hid it under his mattress.

"What the…" I heard him say. I quickly turned around and he looked at me before grabbing a blanket and covering himself.

"What are you doing in here?" He said sounding very angry. I looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"I'm saving you." I said once I had found my voice. He looked at me as If I was the craziest person on earth.

"What are you talking about?" He asked looking around his room. I didn't know if it was a good idea telling him about Sally and the love potion. I thought maybe it would be better to hold off. But then again maybe I could make him remember what we had was more amazing then what Sally made him feel, if he actually felt anything at all for her.

"Sirius, Sally has poisoned your mind. She gave you a love potion to fall in love with her and I'm trying to save you. I'm trying to save us." I said. I had whispered that last part because I didn't know what he would say. I felt so vulnerable when it came to him.

"You are absolutely crazy. I love Sally. She is the light of my life." He said searching through his trunk for clothes.

"Think about this logically. How long have you been with her?" I asked him.

"Two months." He said offhandedly.

"And you already LOVE HER?!?!? Sirius, what is the longest relationship you have had?" I asked him.

"Why do you care? Why are you even in here?" He asked me. I was determined to make him remember me.

"Come on, tell me. What is your longest relationship?" I asked him. The potion had to be wearing off soon, which meant her hold on him had to be getting weaker.

"I don't know, a few weeks." He said still searching. My heart did a flop and each time he took a step, it was as if he was stepping on my heart. I had to swallow my tears and remind myself that he was under a spell. He wasn't himself and he didn't remember me but I would make him remember soon. I got up off of his bed and walked up to him. I was so close that I could feel his breath. He wasn't pulling away, that was good.

"Sirius, do you remember me?" I asked him. He looked down at my lips and swallowed.

"Yeah, you're Drew's sister, what kind of question is that?" He said still standing there looking at my hair and into my eyes.

"Do you remember what we used to have?" I asked him. I needed him to say yes. I needed to know that he knew about it all. He stood there speechless and he pulled me into him forcefully. I suddenly felt like fire at his touch. He had one hand supporting the small of my back, while the other hand traced along my face.

"Ash…" He whispered. He sounded as if he was hurting and I didn't know what to do to help him. Suddenly he pushed me away and I landed on the floor with a thud. He ran to the door but I had already put a powerful charm on it, to lock the door. He wasn't going to be getting out.

"You do remember!" I exclaimed and I knew that the potion was wearing off.

"No, I don't remember anything that me and you had. You are freaking stalking me and I want you to stop." He said ramming himself at the door. I was determined not to let him get out of here without him wanting me back again.

**Drew's POV**

Lily and I were waiting just outside of the common room in case Sally came up and tried to get her way in. I was a little nervous about this whole thing, but we weren't the ones doing anything wrong. All we did was kidnap Sirius, and although I am sure that it's against the law. He was safe, inside the school and they couldn't get into too much trouble. They were only helping a friend out. As if on cue, Sally stalked up to us with an angry look on her face. I had transformed myself into Sirius using a polyjuice potion so that she didn't inform any teachers of the real missing Sirius.

"Where have you been?" She asked sounding a little peeved. I glanced at Lily, not exactly sure how to act.

"Lily needed to ask me a question. That's all." I said. Sally looked between Lily and I and then decided that I must be telling the truth. She sighed and latched onto my arm.

"I was just missing you, that's all." She said snuggling up to me. I held her close trying not to let it feel too awkward. I wasn't sure exactly how long I would have to keep this up but I was fairly confident that I wasn't going to let her poison me though. Ashleigh had warned me to stay away from everything that she had offered me.

"I was just seeing if Sirius was going to be my partner in Transfiguration for the project that we have to do next week." Lily volunteered the information without any real reason to. She looked Lily up and down and then she rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have your own boyfriend in that class?" Sally asked her.

"Of course but the only other person who doesn't have a partner is Ashleigh and well…. You know." Lily said looking sad for Ashleigh. Sally looked as if she suddenly understood what Lily was doing and she seemed a bit grateful.

"Oh, well then that's fine." Sally said in a way that sounded like she was giving her permission to be partners with Sirius.

"Sirius can think for himself you know. You are not his mother and he can make his own decisions." Lily said. She seemed to be instantly mad. I knew that this entire time, she would not talk, let alone look at Sirius because he had hurt her best friend so badly but ever since she discovered that he could be under a love potion, she has been easier on him. She was losing her temper with Sally instead.

"I don't give him orders, he just respects my decisions and he asks me before he makes decisions. He respects my feelings." Sally said. Lily wanted to strangle the girl. Instead, she stalked off into the common room leaving me alone with Sally. She pulled me toward an empty classroom and as soon as we were in there she pulled out a mirror.

"He wants to talk to now. He trusts your knowledge and he wants to know what you know. Its ok to tell him." She said. I looked into the mirror, not sure what to expect and then I saw Voldermort's face appear. I wanted to throw the mirror across the room but I kept my cool.

"Sirius, my lad. Sally tells me that you have some information for me. About the twins. I am particularly interested in Ashleigh." He said to me. I wasn't sure what Sirius had told Sally and I didn't want to blow my cover, not just yet.

"What would you like to know?" I asked trying to sound like Sirius might. He looked at me curiously.

"First off, tell me who is in the Order." He asked me.

"What Order?" I asked. I prayed that Sirius hadn't mentioned any type of Order when he talked to Sally.

"The Order of the Phoenix. Are you not a part of it?" He asked me. What would Sirius have said?

"My lord, I am sorry but ever since I threatened a students life, Dumbledore has lost all trust in me and my friends and I haven't talked much since I have fallen in love with Sally. I am afraid that they don't see how amazing she is." I said smiling at Sally. I had to lay it on think in order to seem convincing. Sally was standing at my side and his eyes turned red again with anger. He looked to Sally and he seemed extremely pissed at her.

"The whole reason behind giving him that potion was to get information, not to keep him from his friends and to be constantly close to you." He said his voice filled with anger.

"My Lord, I tried to keep him integrated with his friends but he is so strong, and his love for Ashleigh is so strong that I couldn't keep a hold on him unless he was constantly there with me." She said, she was pleading with him through the look in her eyes and the sound in her voice. I felt bad for her but then again, she was weak and evil if she worked for him.

"Get the information or you will have failed me. Integrate yourself within his circle of friends." Voldermort said.  
"My Lord, they hate me, they all support Ashleigh and they don't support him." Sally said trying to make him understand. He shook his head.

"I don't care how you do it, just do it." He said before disappearing. This guy would not stop; he seemed to try everything possible to get to Ashleigh and me. Including breaking Ashleigh into a million pieces emotionally. Although, I have to admit, if he had access to her while she was broken emotionally because of Sirius, he might have gotten control of her. But that was solely based on the fact that she seemed to be in an emotional coma.

**Ashleigh's POV**

"Sirius, you can ram yourself into that door over and over again but you are not going to be getting out." I said trying to make him stop. Anything, so that he wouldn't hurt himself. He started to yell for help and I sighed.

"Sirius, I put a silence charm on the room." I said. He turned to him and the next thing I knew he was on top of me. It was the first time I had feared for my life while I was with him. I had a feeling that he was going to hit me, and he wasn't going to be nice about it. He raised his hand as if he was going to hit me and then he stopped and scrambled backward toward the opposite side of the room. I pulled myself up and leaned against the wall. He had tears running down his face.

"Help me…." I heard his voice become extremely vulnerable and I knew that the real Sirius was trying to reach out to me. I crawled across the floor and I placed my hand on top of his. I lifted his chin so that his eyes met mine.

"I'm here for you baby, I'm so sorry that I doubted you and I doubted my own heart when I saw the two of you together. But I am here for you, and I wont let her have you again. I wont." I said and I leaned in for a kiss. He kissed me back and I felt the electricity flow between us. We both pulled back and then he grabbed his head and cringed.

"God, my head." He said through clenched teeth. I placed my hand on the side of his face and gave him another kiss. He pushed me away and he looked angry again. Every cell in my body told me to get out of there, not to be anywhere near him. But my heart told me that he would never lay a hand on me or hurt me in any way.

"Ashleigh, please. Just go." He said though clenched teeth. I shook my head no.

"I'm not leaving. I will never leave you." I said grabbing his hand and not letting go. He fell against me and I rubbed his temples, hoping that it was making some difference. Maybe if I had physical contact with him, then he would snap out of it. After a while he was breathing deeply in with his head in my lap and his eyes closed. He had fallen asleep on my lap and I was here to take care of him for a change. I placed my hand on his forehead and brushed the hair out of his eyes. I kept doing this slowly, and I loved looking at his eyes. His face seemed so innocent and childlike but at the same time he had rugged facial features that made him look mature. I glanced from his face to his hair. I loved the feel of his hair between my fingers. It was soft and silky and I kept sliding my fingers in and out of his hair. He stirred and looked up at me. He smiled the most handsome smile I had seen and he pulled me down to meet his mouth. We kissed and I felt his want and need for me flowing through me.

"Thank you." He whispered against my lips.

"God, I missed you." I said hugging him close to my chest. I could smell him and I longed to never leave this moment.


	48. Chapter 48

Sirius sat up and looked at me and I kissed him one last time. He looked me up and down pausing every now and then to take me in. He finally grabbed me and pulled me on top of him.

"I have never wanted anything more than I want you. Right now." He said placing his hands on my sides. I laid my hands on his chest and I could feel his heartbeat this time. I had never wanted him more in my entire life either. I slowly bent down to kiss him on his lips. The kiss was slow, soft and completely gentle. When I pulled away, I grabbed my wand and cast a no peeking charm on the room. What I was about to do, I didn't want anyone to watch in on. I pulled his shirt off slowly and I looked longingly at his chest. He rubbed his hands along my side and I moaned with pleasure. We started to kiss and then slowly and surely we were completely naked on the floor with blankets on top of us. I felt the momentum of the pleasure building up inside of me and I started to moan with pleasure. His breathing was getting shallow and at the same exact moment we both cried out with complete ecstasy.

"Oh. My. God," He said breathing hard. I was lying next to him with my head on his chest. I was completely content on staying in that position forever.

"Yeah." Was all I could manage to get out. An alarm went off and I jumped up. It meant that someone was coming up the stairs. I quickly put my clothes on and Sirius took my cue. We were both dressed and I wiggled my nose to get rid of my sex hair and he ran into the bathroom to wash his face that was covered in sweat. I undid the charms on the room and I hid under the bed in case it wasn't one of the guys. The door opened and I watched as Sally walked into the room. She looked into the bathroom and she saw Sirius.

"SIRIUS?!?!?!?!" She yelled at him looking outraged and confused. Sirius looked like he was caught in head lights and I didn't know what to do.

"Hi." He said. She looked at him and then back toward the direction of the common room and then back at him.

"How could you be up here? You were just downstairs, I left you so you could go to the Great hall for dinner, how did you end up here?" She asked him. Sirius looked at her as if she was crazy. I prayed that he would push her away and make her leave. Scream at her and yell at her. Make her feel like I had felt all this time.

"The real question is why are you coming into my room?" He asked her closing in on the space between them. She looked around and I knew that she didn't have a good answer.

"I wanted to give you a surprise, I got a butter beer for you." She said handing it to him. I jumped out from under the bed and knocked it out of his hand and to the floor.

"No!" I yelled. She turned with a look of surprise and then once she got a grasp on the situation, she looked between him and myself before blowing up at me. She screamed and went straight for my hair. She yanked and I tried to get her off. I definitely wasn't expecting for her to physically grab me. Sirius pulled her off and I backed up against the wall.

"YOU BLOODY BITCH!" She screamed and then she kneed Sirius in the groin and he went down doubled over in pain. She grabbed her wand out of her robes and pointed it at me. I realized that I didn't have my wand on me and I had no idea where it was either. She flicked her wand and muttered something but the blood was pounding in my ears too loudly. Suddenly I felt the same pain reverberate through my body as I did on those encounters with Voldermort. I screamed and Sirius pushed her to the ground breaking the connection between the wand and me. I lay there panting. How could I go from complete ecstasy to complete pain? The door barged open and Dumbledore walked in and pointed his wand at Sally.  
"Its time you and I had a talk Ms. Bain." He said binding her and escorting her out. I crawled over to Sirius and laid my back against his.

"I'm sorry that I trusted her when she gave me that drink." Sirius said after a while.

"How could you have known? I mean how many psychos go to this school?" I said holding onto his hand. We both still had our backs to each other. He reached around for my hand and we just sat there for a while. After a while, the whole gang filed into the room and we all sat together in one big circle.

"That guy will do anything to hurt all of us." Drew said after a while. Lily, James and Remus just looked at him. I knew that if we continued on, then our lives would be changed forever. Drew and I had a destiny when it came to fighting this guy, but the others didn't.

"I think its safe to say that no one can be trusted. And I think that no one would hold anything against you if you decided to walk away from this and lead a normal life." I said. We were all facing each other and everyone was looking down at the ground.

"I think that it is safe to say that life won't be anywhere near normal as long as he is alive and gaining power. If you think about it, there is no place to hide." Lily said quietly.

"Lily is right, the only way we can lead a semi normal life is by getting rid of him. And I think we should all stick together when it comes to that." James said and he placed his hand inside the circle that we had formed. Sirius was the next to put his hand in and he smiled at James. I placed mine over Sirius' and Drew joined in after me. Lily was next and then Remus, who seemed a bit reluctant, joined in. I gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'll never have a normal life, so there is no point in at least trying to lead one." He joked and we laughed at him. Remus picked up a pillow and hit Sirius in the chest. He grunted and went down but not for long. He tried to hit Remus back but ended up hitting James who grabbed a pillow and his Drew. Lily and I jumped across the room to avoid the crossfire. We thought we were pretty safe until all four boys turned toward us.

"Oh great." I said picking up the closest pillow. Lily grabbed one too and we fought our way out to the common room for safety.

"All of you please come to my office." McGonagall said. We immediately stopped fighting at the sound of her shrill voice. Usually she had just complete strictness in her voice but I detected a sense of sadness. We followed her to her office and placed a silencing charm on the small room.

"What I am about to tell you, will not leave this room… it seems that Voldermort has resorted to recruiting Hogwarts students over the last break and the last summer. In exchange for protection, Ms. Bain has given us names. Lots and lots of names. Half of the students, we never would have expected…" Ms. McGonagall said shaking her head.

"Wait… you are going to protect her?" I said sounding extremely pissed off. I couldn't believe that after all of that, she was going to be protected. She broke my heart and took away the only person that made me whole for months.

"Yes, Ms. Hewitt. We will have her on lockdown in the school. She is of age and if she signs the contract then we will hide her. We needed those names. I know she has caused havoc in your lives but we need those names for the greater good of this war." She said. McGonagall suddenly looked so much older. I hadn't realized that this war was taking over her life and probably causing havoc in her own life. As far as I knew, she didn't have any family but that doesn't mean she hasn't lost someone. Many of the people in the Order were just as much as family to her.

"I understand." I said. I got an overwhelming sense of sadness wash over her as she looked to her desk. I didn't want to be in the room any longer.

"Here is the list. The password is Balderdash. Say that and the names appear. Once you are done, say lemon drop and the names disappear. Make sure no one gets a hold of it and please, do not say the password in front of people." She said motioning for us to leave. I took the piece of parchment off of her desk and I pushed in into my pocket. Drew motioned for us to follow him to the room of Requirement.

"Once we look at the list, what does she want us to do?" Lily asked. I was just as confused at her. We were supposed to catch these students red handed and then turn them over to the ministry?

"I say we pound them all." Sirius said pounding his fist into his hand. I sighed and placed a silencing charm over the room. Sirius always resorted to violence.

"I say we jinx them." James said following Sirius' theory of violence.

"How about we just follow them?" Drew said. We all just looked at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Well, if we follow them, they might lead us to where more Death Eaters are hiding, or better yet, to where Voldermort is." He said. I got a bad feeling just thinking about following them to their hide out. To where more followers would be, where more people would want to kill us and make our lives miserable.

"You mean follow them to where more of them are at? Oh yeah, that's not going to get us killed at all." I said sarcastically.

"Well what do you suggest we do, Miss Know-It-All?" He said. I shrugged and we all went back to being silent.

"Why is it, that only Dumbledore seems to be the one that Voldermort is afraid of?" I asked after a period of silence.

"I don't know. Maybe because he is more powerful than him." Remus said.

"Well I wish that he was afraid of us." I said quietly. I no longer wanted him to come after any of us; I no longer wanted to fight for the greater good. I just wanted to lead a normal life.

"Look, Malfoy is on the list…. Big surprise there." Sirius said sourly. He shook his head when he went down the list and then he threw it on the ground. I picked it up and I saw what made him so mad. His brother's name was on the list and so was his cousins' name.

"Sirius…" I wasn't quite sure what I should say. In times like this, do you say sorry or tell the truth and say you never would have doubted it.

"I always knew that my family was evil." He said simply before sitting down in the corner. Whenever it came to his family, he always shut everyone out, including me.

"We are going to get them all. No one will hurt any of us ever again." I said sitting next to Sirius and rubbing his back softly.


	49. Chapter 49

We had agreed that it would be best if each one of us took on some Death Eater students. Follow them around campus and see what kind of information we could gather. My subjects were supposed to be Malfoy and some Hufflepuff by the name of Mary. Mary was easy to follow around the school because she was trusting and she seemed to day dream a lot, which meant she wasn't suspicious of me following her. Malfoy, on the other hand was so hard to follow. He always had his two goons following him around and although they were dumb, they always watched his back. It got to the point where I had to use the polyjuice potion just to get around them. I bound and gagged Malfoy's girlfriend, Narissa Black, I gave her a sleeping potion and then I took off toward the Great Hall. Drew had known of my plan since the beginning and he was supposed to make sure that there was no suspicions coming from the Slytherin table while I completed the transformation. I glanced his way when I walked into the Hall and I headed toward the Slytherin table.  
"… So I just ended up telling the professor that I couldn't complete the assignment because of Potter and Black harassing me." Malfoy said referring to the incident during Potions class. Sirius and James had gotten a week worth of detention because of Malfoy. I had been studying Narissa's movements and attitude for the last week. I sat next to Malfoy and I placed my hand over his shoulder while I slightly hung on him and his every word about his next story of hexing a younger Gryffindor this morning. I laughed on cue with everyone else and then he turned his attention to me. He looked my body up and down and then back at me. He smiled a suggestive smile and I smiled back at him. He pulled me closer to him as we were walking back to the Slytherin common room. Hopefully in here, he would give up some kind of information. I had read the Daily Prophet that morning and it had said that Voldermort had killed two more wizards that I knew were part of the Order.

"So, what do you think about those wizards that were killed by the Dark Lord last night?" I said hoping he would take the bait. From everything that I knew about him, I knew that he would boast about the Dark Lord. He looked up from his potions book excitedly and I knew that he wanted to talk about it.

"Word is that they were part of some kind of secret order and that some people at this school are in the order." Malfoy said.

"You know that Dumbledore is part of this order. He has to be. Who else would be stupid enough to go up against the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix said sitting next to me. Bellatrix was Narissa's sister and I had to be extra careful not to get caught.

"Do you know who is in the Order?" I asked them. Malfoy and Bellatrix's eyes twinkled and I knew that they had some kind of information.

"Not many people but I can guess that those stupid gits in Gryffindor are in it. Especially those bloody Americans." Malfoy said with disgust.

"Yeah and that mudblood and her ever so faithful boyfriend." Bellatrix said as if she couldn't stand to say the word mudblood.

"And don't forget your wonderful cousin is most likely in there too." I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

"Yeah I know. He always has his hands all over that American trash; I was so surprised that he and Sally had gotten together. I mean his love for the American cant be too strong if he could fall under that potion so easily." Bellatrix said as if she knew everything.

"But you know what, I doubt that Dumbledore would bring any students into any type of danger. He isn't like the Dark Lord, he doesn't trust himself to let anything happen to a student and without the Dark Lord training them, and then they are easy targets against his followers." I said hoping that they would then reveal something. Malfoy leaned in close between Bellatrix and me.

"What Dumbledore doesn't know, is that he has a lot to worry about. The Dark Lord is now taking on kids. Over vacation, I saw him training almost everyone in this room and a few Gryffindor and Ravenclaws too. Of course he only trusts those who have been with him since the beginning, like me." Malfoy said. I didn't know how to react to that information. I didn't know if Narissa was a Death Eater so I kept quiet.

"I just can't wait to get out of here. I want to be by his side and I want to fight against all those blood traitors. I want to rid the world of mudbloods and I want to get rid of the American trash and my faithful cousin." Bellatrix said.

"Shut up, you don't know what you are talking about. He has plans for those Americans and he isn't going to let anyone kill them, not until he learns how to take all their powers away." Malfoy said. I listened to them ramble on about more things that were insignificant before I made an excuse to leave. I rushed to the closet that had Narissa and I thanked God that she was still asleep. I went into her mind and wiped the memory of her being gagged and bond. I placed her in the bathroom on the floor so that she didn't get too confused. Then I ran all the way to the common room.  
"So?" Lily looked at me expectantly. I shook my head and I walked back out. Drew, Remus and Lily followed me to the Room of requirement and I placed a silencing charm on the room.

"They don't want to kill us." I said looking at Drew. He gave me a puzzled look. I told them everything I had heard, word for word. We sat there wondering exactly what to do and who exactly were these Gryffindors who were training during break.

"First of all, who left during break?" I asked.

"Who didn't? Practically everyone except us left." Drew said. He was right; Drew, Lily, Remus, James, Sirius and I were the only ones in Gryffindor who stayed during winter Break.

"Who do you think it could be?" I asked. I was completely mystified as to who was joining the Dark Lord from Gryffindor.

"Well, we can keep a close watch on everyone." Remus suggested.

"Think about that. Malfoy said he was training kids. Geez, little kids probably, there are way too many people in Gryffindor to keep a close watch on everyone." I said.

"What else can we do?" Lily asked.

"We talk to Dumbledore. He has to be able to find some links somewhere. Maybe it is because of their parents. Voldermort could be threatening them or the parents could be influencing them into working for Voldermort." Drew said, in the end, we agreed to present the information to Dumbledore before anything else.

"Ok, you and Drew go and tell Dumbledore and we will make sure that we fill James and Sirius in." Lily said pulling Remus out of the room. I looked at Drew and I knew that him and I needed to talk.

"Can he really take our powers?" I asked quietly. Drew looked up at me and shrugged.   
"I think its time we paid Grandmother a little visit." He said. Our Grandmother would know more about our Wicca side that anyone. We approached Dumbledore in the hall outside of his office, while he was talking to some first years about the importance of behaving well in class. Once he saw us approach he excused the first years and motioned for us to join him in his office.

"We have some news… and a request." Drew said. Dumbledore nodded and we told him about the Gryffindor traitors and then we told him about Voldermorts' plan.

"Which brings us to our request. We don't know much about our Wicca side and what we can or cannot do. But we do know that we can talk to our Grandmother on our mom's side and that she will have all the answers we need. If anything, we need to talk to her." Drew said. Dumbledore nodded.

"I feared that this would come and to be quite honest, I know that you are right. I have your Grandmothers' address and you guys can go there tomorrow but only for a short time. The problem is, if there are Death Eaters in the Gryffindor house, any sign of you two leaving will alert Voldermort that you have left campus. So to keep you safe, I will have two members of the Order drink a polyjuice potion and impersonate the two of you for the day. You must be back within 24 hours though." Dumbledore said. We made the plan as solid as we could with no holes in it whatsoever. Drew and I were to go to Dumbledore's office at four in the morning being as quiet as possible. He would be waiting there with two members of the Order and the polyjuice potion waiting. We would offer some hair for the potion and then Drew and I were to Floo to a house off campus. Once we were off campus we were to apparate to our grandmother's house. When we wanted to come home, we would contact Dumbledore using the two-way mirrors and then apparate to the same house. Then floo back and wait for our doubles to show up before going back to life at Hogwarts. The plan sounded simple enough and I had no doubt that it would work without any hitch.

The plan was working perfectly; we were off campus and ready to apparate to our Grandmother's house. I was a bit nervous because Drew had always described her a mean and resentful. But I was also excited because I had never met any of my grandparents before. I was always told that they died of old age. But considering that Dumbledore was our Uncle and he was EXTREMELY old, I found that very unlikely.

"Are you ready?" I asked him. He nodded and we took a hold of each other's hands. Just in case, we wanted to be able to put up a barrier. There was a snap and then a pop and we were in the living room of a very old house. It looked like it was an old Victorian house and the sun was just rising. I heard a creak on the stairs behind us and we both put up the barrier just in time to deflect the magic that was thrown at us.

"Who are you?!" She gasped. We both put the barrier down and she recognized us immediately.

"Your grandkids." I said looking at her. She was very old and it looked as if she couldn't walk very well but she was feisty and she put up a front the second she said that.

"I don't have any grandkids." She said before making her way down the steps and into the kitchen. I looked at Drew and he nodded slowly as if this was her personality speaking.

"Elizabeth, you know that you do. Look we need your help." He said letting go of my hand and following her into the kitchen.

"Why should I help you?" She asked stirring the cup of tea by using magic instead of her hand.

"Because whether you like it or not, we are family and you know that you can help us." He said. She sighed and then looked away. For some reason I could sense that this was painful for her.

"What is it you need?" She asked after ten minutes of complete silence.

"Is there a way that someone can steal our Wicca powers?" He asked her. She turned her complete attention onto him.

"Who is trying?" She asked making her way back up the stairs. We followed her and Drew explained the entire situation to her. She sighed and picked up a book that was lying on the floor before her. She flipped to a page and then she showed us a picture of a dagger.

"If you are stabbed with this kind dagger, you will lose all of your powers. You will become useless and the person who gets stabbed next will gain everything you have lost." She said showing us the entry.

"How many daggers are out there like this?" I asked her.

"Four. I destroyed two of them but it's hard to find the other two. Look, I am an old lady and I know that my time on earth is precious and slowly dwindling. I am no longer able to search for the two remaining daggers. But you two can. Here take all my notes." She said shoving them at us. Her notes were neatly placed inside of a journal and her writing was impeccably neat. I glanced through the notes for a while and she watched me with fascination.

"You look just like her you know." She said. I looked up and I was confused.

"Just like who?" I asked.  
"Your mother. Your biological mother." She said. Drew looked up sharply.

"What are you talking about?" I was too curious to let this go.

"Gwendolyn. She is your biological mother." She said. I shook my head because I knew that she had to be lying to me.

"No, you're just delusional." Drew said dismissing it.

"I wish I were. I wish that my daughter didn't leave you two on the doorstep of a friend as if you were rubbish, I wish that I could be proud of my daughter… like I am proud of the two of you." She said. It was hard to process the information that she was throwing at us. I didn't understand whom she was talking about.

"I still don't understand." I said shaking my head just because the thought of having a mother out there was too much to comprehend at the moment.

"Gwen was my daughter and she is the one who gave birth to the two of you. Your father is the same person you have always known. She fell in love with your father instantly and the two of them were inseparable. I was happy that she had fallen in love with someone who could do some sort of magic, even if it wasn't the same as hers. And then she got pregnant with the two of you. She became withdrawn and extremely suspicious of everything, including your father. She left him and then she just disappeared. To this day, no one knows where she went. Your father was absolutely heartbroken and he turned to a friend of his and in the end, they fell in love. Everything was going great for him, other than the fact that he lost his children. He searched for you guys for the longest time, and then one night Gwen appeared on his doorstep. She told him that you guys were too powerful for her and that she couldn't protect you. She gave you to him and the women you have known as your mother to protect you. She saved your life that night by giving you to someone more competent…" Our Grandmother said. I looked at Drew to see if any of this was a surprise to him and he looked just as shocked as me.

"How do we know you are telling the truth?" I asked her. She pulled out a photo album and in it were pictures of our dad and a beautiful lady who looked exactly like me. She was holding her stomach and they were both laughing into the camera. Our dad was pointing to the stomach and he was smiling proudly. On the next page was a sonogram that showed the two of us and it was labeled, 'The Future Ashleigh and Andrew'.

"Your mom came back to me and her mind was completely gone. I don't know what happened to her but she kept mumbling something about a dark force and I couldn't do anything to set her mind at ease. She had the power to see the future and I don't think she could take what she saw." She said and then she wiped a tear from her face.

"What happened to her?" I asked quietly looking at the pictures or our biological mom and dad.

"She ran away. I searched for her for the longest time and I still and searching for her. I don't know what I would do if she wasn't safe." She said.

"Have you ever thought that maybe she is dead?" Drew asked. I kicked him and he yelped. I gave him a sharp glare and he shut up.

"No, she isn't, I would know if she was. I would know." She said and then we all stopped talking because we heard a bunch of loud pops. She looked at us in alarm and Drew shut the door quietly.

"We need to get out of here." He whispered urgently to me. I nodded but I didn't want to leave my grandma. She looked between the two of us and nodded. She knew that something was here to get us and that we needed to flee to safety.

"You need to leave, don't worry about me. I am a tough old lady and I can take care of myself. But I couldn't live with myself if something happened to the two of you." She said gesturing for us to leave. Drew grabbed my arm but I still didn't want to leave.

"I love you." I said before she slipped out the door to fend them off.

"We have to GO NOW!" He said but he could see me being reluctant. I knew what we had to do but my heart didn't want me to. I nodded and we both apparated out of there with all the notes. We landed in the same house we came in and then we quickly flooed to Hogwarts. We were in the fireplace just in time to see a hoard of Death Eaters apparate in front of us.


	50. Chapter 50

We fell onto the floor of Dumbledore's office and gasped for pure air, versus the soot that we were breathing in. Dumbledore and Sirius helped us up off the floor and sat us down in the chairs across from his desk. Sirius was rubbing some soot off of my face while Drew told him what had happened. Taking immediate action, Dumbledore sent Order members to our grandmother's house to rescue her if needed. We laid the journal before him that had the notes of how to find the daggers. He looked up at us and shook his head.

"I am so sorry. I should have gone with you." He said with regret in his voice.

"Our biological mother is out there somewhere." I said quietly and he nodded.

"So you did know about it?" Drew asked angrily. He sighed and took off his glasses. He rubbed his temples with his long fingers and then he placed them back onto his nose.

"Yes I did. Your father told me in confidence and asked me not to tell anyone, especially the two of you. He believed that you didn't need to know about her. She was of no use to you. She went insane." Dumbledore said.

"But she is still a family member. We don't have much of that at all." I said looking down at my shoes.

"Yes you do. You have me and Lily and James and Remus. We are your family and we will be there as your family forever." He said taking a hold of my hand.

"And you have me. You guys are not alone in this. The whole order is here for you." Dumbledore said and we nodded. He looked at the book once more.

"Could I take a look at this? Possibly try and figure out where the last two are?" Dumbledore asked. I honestly didn't care about it any longer, I was tired and didn't want to deal with it at the moment.  
"Of course. May we be excused?" I asked wanting to leave. At that moment, our doubles walked into the office and Dumbledore nodded saying we could leave. We walked slowly back to the common room with Sirius. Neither Drew nor I seemed to talk too much that night. Instead, we went straight to bed for the night.

"_TELL ME!" I heard Voldermort scream out and I instantly cringed. I turned as fast as I could but everything was going in slow motion. I saw my grandma sit on the floor with her legs crossed and she was humming with her eyes closed. Voldermort waved his wand at her and it was deflected back. Nothing was touching her as she sat there humming, meditating. _

"_Fine, if you wont listen to me. Maybe you will listen to your daughter." Voldermort said. At the mention of her daughter, she lost her concentration. Voldermort motioned for his Death Eaters to open the door and a woman who stood tall and proud walked in. She had long blonde hair that cascaded down her back in perfect messy waves and slight ringlets. Her eyes were bright green and she looked as if she had a ton of power. My grandma got up at the sight of her and ran toward her. Voldermort flicked his wand and she fell to the floor and twisted in pain. I could see the pained expression on her face and I wanted to reach out to her and save her. I wanted to take away her pain and make her feel better. He pulled his wand back and she lay there panting. _

"_Tell me where the last two daggers are!" He said, his voice rising. _

"_Gwendolyn." She whispered looking at her daughter as if she were sent down from heaven. She looked content and happy at that moment and I knew that she had found exactly what she had been looking for all this time. Her daughter. She had searched for so long and never gave up hope and now she had found her. Voldermort flicked his wand once more and she screamed out in pain, the look on her face had disappeared and then she was silent. I tried to run to her to help her or save her. It seemed to take forever before I reached her and I saw that she was dead. She must have had a heart attack from the pain. I sat down next to her and I cried quietly. _

"_Dispose of her." He said with disgust in his voice before turning to my mother. She was looking down at the body but she wasn't registering any recollection of her mother at all. _

"_Do you trust me?" He asked her. She switched her gaze to him and nodded slowly. _

"_She was evil. She wouldn't tell me where I could find the dagger so that I can fight off those who are after me." He said explaining to her. _

"_I understand, My Lord." She said before turning and gliding out of the room. I watched her as her hair barely moved and it appeared as if she wasn't even walking._

I woke up drenched in sweat. I couldn't tell if the wetness on my face was from sweating or from my own tears. My grandmother was dead and my mom was on the wrong side. I silently cried for the rest of the night. I couldn't dare going back to sleep. I feared that if I closed my eyes then I would see her face. The same face I see everyday I looked into the mirror. I just silently cried until the sun came up, then I crept out of bed and took a long hot shower. I was dressed and at the breakfast table before anyone else. I quietly ate a piece of toast when Dumbledore showed up in front of me.

"Are you ok?" He asked me sitting down across from me. I shook my head no and I started to cry again. I was tired of this battle, of this fight. I was tired of seeing everyone who was connected to me die. I didn't want to see any more death. He touched my hand and gave me a reassuring smile. I dried up my tears just before Drew walked into the Great Hall.  
"Ashleigh, you scared me. I couldn't find you and Lily said that you weren't in your bed and I thought that maybe you had left or something. I was so scared. Don't you ever do that to me again." He said hugging me for a very long time.

"She's on the dark side." I said quietly. Drew and Dumbledore both looked at me puzzled and then Dumbledore motioned for the two of us to follow him to his office. Once we were in there, they both looked at, waiting for my explanation.

"Our grandmother is dead and our biological mother… she is on Voldermort's side." I said looking down at my hands.

"How do you know?" Drew asked me. I told them about my nightmare and how our mother looked almost exactly like me and how Voldermort had killed our grandmother and then how he had talked to our mother.

"Maybe she is being brainwashed." I suggested at the end.

"The nightmares that you have, has Drew always had the same exact one?" Dumbledore asked. I hesitated before I nodded but I still nodded.  
"Except for one time. She saw someone else having a child and I saw her having a child." Drew said piping up.

"Well then, we will keep searching for your grandmother just in case but you should know that he could be having the Imperious Curse upon your mother. So don't worry, I am sure that he wont hurt her." Dumbledore said but he didn't sound too convincing. We left his office and went back to the breakfast table.

"You would have loved to see her Drew, she was breath-takingly beautiful." I said in the middle of breakfast.

"She is not our mom." He stated before stuffing some toast into his mouth.

"Yes she is. And she needs our help. How could you not want to help your own flesh and blood?" I asked him. I couldn't understand why he was being so difficult.

"Because that woman that you saw is not our mom." He said his voice was rising now. The tone and level of his voice was warning me to drop it. But I couldn't drop it; he had no reason to be so angry with me. I only wished he could have seen our mother. She was the image of absolute perfection.

"How do you know? How can you sit there and say something like that after seeing the pictures. After listening to our grandmother?" I said desperately. This time he got up hastily and he slammed his cup on the table. Anger flashed in his eyes and I suddenly felt small.

"OUR MOTHER IS SARA COX! AND DON'T YOU DARE FORGET THAT!" He roared at me before leaving the Great Hall rather quickly. I slowly turned back to my breakfast and sat there staring at his spilled drink slowly making its way across. Sirius sat down next to me and put his arm around me.   
"Are you ok?" That was the second time this morning that somebody asked that. I nodded and turned to him, my eyes were watering and he pulled me into a hug.

"I just wanted him to admit that we have one more family member out there. I wanted him to want to save her." I said into his shoulder.  
"I know… I know baby." He said rubbing my back softly. As I sat there in his arms, I realized that I couldn't let her be controlled like that and I knew that I had to save her. And with only a month left in school, once I was out, I would save her.

We all took our N.E.W.T.s and we passed with flying colors, as if it was ever questioned. That night we celebrated our last night in Hogwarts and the last night of our childhood. Tomorrow morning, once we stepped off that train, we no longer had to worry about superficial things. We had to fight in the war against evil. But we put all of that out of our mind and concentrated on celebrating. James, Remus, Sirius and Peter had gotten cases of Butterbeer and other treats for everyone in Gryffindor. Everybody was drinking, eating and have a great time.

"I love you." Sirius said after we had just laughed about Peter and his latest date with this totally innocent girl from Hufflepuff. She looked up to him as if he was a God and he loved that. I kissed Sirius on the lips softly and smiled.

"I love you too." I said. He grabbed my hand and slipped a ring onto my finger. It was the engagement ring that I had given Sally because I was so upset about them being together.  
"How did you get this?" I gasped. He smiled at me and kissed the top of my hand.

"I told Sally that if she didn't give it back to me then I would present her to the Ministry once this war was over and she was out of hiding. There would be a chance that she would have to go to Azkaban so she immediately gave it up." He said smiling his sexy smile. I laughed and I admired the ring on my finger. It was absolutely perfect.

"Thank you baby." I said hugging him tightly. He pulled back after a minute and placed his hands on my shoulders so that I looked at him directly.

"Move in with me." He said gazing into my eyes.

"What?" I asked. I had always thought that Drew and I would move into a small apartment after we left Hogwarts. I had never dreamed about moving in with Sirius. I had assumed he was going to move in with Remus and James. Drew had heard this and he came over.

"Sirius, you cant be serious." He said sitting down next to me. I was sure what to say now.

"Yeah I am. Drew, I don't know if you have noticed but I love your sister and I will protect her." He said pulling me into him.

"I understand that, but you have to understand that she and I need to be together, just in case. We are stronger together, than apart." Drew said. He had a good point and I wished that we had all discussed this long before tonight so that tonight wouldn't be a big fight.

"How about we all move in together." James proposed trying to stop a fight too.

"All of us?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, obviously they can't split up and the four of us are orphans. Lily will need a place to stay too. She can't stay with her muggle family, that would be too dangerous." James said.

"I agree with James, it would be perfect is we all moved in together. We could all protect each other then." I said.

"Or we would be worse then sitting ducks. All of us under one roof, it would be easy for them to pick us off." Drew said. I could tell that he just didn't want Sirius and I to be in the same room.

"But if there was more of us to fend them off, that gives a greater chance of survival." Sirius said through clenched teeth.

"Ashleigh, everyone we have ever lived with has died because of us being with them. I don't think I can take on the fact that we would lose our friends just because we wanted to stay under the same roof." He said.  
"But what if us being under the same roof, saved their lives?" I asked. We argued for a majority of the night before we all decided to move in together. It would be easier and we could protect each other more.


	51. Chapter 51

The very next morning while everyone was rushing around and saying good-bye to their friends, wishing them a swell summer. Some girls were even off in the corner crying and holding each other. We all grabbed our belongings and headed down to Dumbledore's office. He had to go over some last minute plans with us and give us some information and what we were to do after we got off the train.  
"Good Morning. All of you please sit." He said waving his wand and enough chairs appeared. We all sat down and waited for him to explain.

"Well, as you know, we have some students who are death eaters in our midst. And since I am sure that they report to Voldermort often, I do not feel that it would be a good idea for any of you to travel home by train. Apparation should suffice for now." Dumbledore said. We all nodded and he told us that we could leave once the train has departed. We were one of the last ones to leave the castle and we all separated with partners and apparated to different locations before making our way to the safe house. Dumbledore had set up a house for the Order Headquaters. My stomach was nervous and it continued to do flip flops as we apparated. I admit that I was scared. My plan was to settle into our new house, which we all had rented together. It was a nice two-story house that had four bedrooms and it was actually perfect for all of us. We had seen the ad in the Daily Prophet and Dumbledore had called upon the owner and rented the house under a pseudo name. The house would not only be used as a roof over our heads but as the Order Headquaters as well. Dumbledore that was wise because the charms set upon the house would keep us safe. I had planned to sneak off and do something to try and find my mother and save her. I had to save her, she needed me right now.  
"Hey, keep up with me." Drew said because I was lacking behind him. I quickened my pace and we suddenly closed in on the house. It was a nice house, it was a two-story house that was a beige color and it had white trim. It looked as if it was any other normal house.

Inside the house, the entire place was already decorated and the rooms looked roomy enough. Sirius grabbed me by the waist and pulled me up the stairs. I laughed as he pulled me along. He dropped his stuff and mine in one room and pushed me onto the bed.

"This one, we share." He said getting on top of me. He pinned my hands over my head and stared directly into my eyes. It felt like I could see into him and I knew that we would be happy together. He leaned down and gently kissed me. It was so soft and sudden that I didn't have time to think about it.

"What are you guys doing in here?" I heard Drew say as he walked into the room. Sirius didn't even get off of me, he just looked back and him and smiled.

"We are just making our new home." Sirius said. Drew laughed and shook his leaving us. That surprised me because I assumed that he would never let Sirius and I share a room. To be honest, I did want to share a room with Sirius. I did want to wake up each morning in his arms.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. After all this is over, I want to settle down and have kids and a beautiful house and the perfect life, with my perfect wife." He said kissing me deeper this time. The way he described it, I had never wanted anything more in my life. I wanted to be with him and have kids with him and make a wonderful home for the two of us. I wanted life to be normal.  
"Ash, Sirius… come downstairs!" We heard James yell. We slowly got up but his eyes never left mine and his hand wouldn't let go of me either. It was seemed as if he was afraid of losing me. Dumbledore called our attention to him and we saw Mad-Eye and a few others with him waiting and sitting quietly on the couch. Peter, Emma, the Prewitt twins, Arthur Weasley and his longtime girlfriend, Molly were all gathered around.

"These are the new members of the Order. Mad-Eye will be training with them for the next two weeks. You six have already been trained, therefore I will be asking you to go on certain missions if you choose to do so." Dumbledore said. I felt a bit of excitement inside of me because I couldn't wait to get out there and fight against Voldermort. I couldn't wait to get rid of him.

"Please keep in mind that any mission that I ask you to go on is completely optional. I will not force you to fight against your will. If you choose not to do a mission, for whatever reason, please inform me immediately so that I can get someone else to volunteer. I will tell you your mission at a specific time and at times I may ask you to keep it confidential. But for the most part, we are a team and we are fighting for one common goal, and that is to ensure the safety of those who are defenseless out there." Dumbledore said. After he said his speech, he told us to go and relax before dinner.

"Ashleigh, Drew… could you come here pleas." Dumbledore said once everyone broke up and started to talk loudly. I noticed that Emma was making her way toward Drew before she pulled back and it looked as if she was almost embarrassed. Dumbledore pulled up toward the kitchen and then he looked at me before speaking.

"I know that you feel as if you need to save your guys' mom. And if so, I would like to do it in a way where the order can get you out of there in on piece. Voldermort is smarter than you think and he might be expecting you at some point." Dumbledore said. Drew's body went ridgid and I looked down at my feet. I knew that Dumbledore had expected me to do something to save her. He knew and in a way he wanted to help.

"I don't want to find her." Drew said before walking away. I stared after him and then I slowly turned my head toward Dumbledore. He was looking at me expectantly.

"I do. And regardless if he does or not, I am going to." I said.

"And you are absolutely sure that this is what you want?" He asked once again. I nodded without hesitation and he looked down before nodding.

"Ok then, Ashleigh… I will make arrangements for you to find her. You do understand that no one knows where Voldermort is at any time? Therefore you will need to be captured by his Death Eaters in order to get in to rescue her." Dumbledore said. I wasn't even scared at that thought. I knew what I had to do to save the last surviving relative of Drew's and mine.

"Very well. As soon as we can, we can ensure that you will be captured." He said before leaving. Drew came back and stared at me, I had to tell him even if I knew that he would be mad.

"I am going to get her. I'm am going to save our mother,' I said and I could already see his body language go from relaxed to rigid in seconds.

"Ashleigh, she is NOT our mother!" He said very loudly. He knew just as well as I did that she was our mother.

"Yes, she is! She gave birth to us." I said.

"She also abandoned us." I said through gritted teeth.

"And we can't abandon her! Two wrongs do not make a right. You know this. Isn't that what we were always taught? Isn't that what our parents taught us?" I reasoned with him. He sighed and I knew that I had gotten him.

"She abandoned us." He barely whispered.

"Regardless if she did or not, we have to save her. Think of her as some complete stranger that we need to save. No one deserves to be controlled by him." I said quietly. I knew that would draw him in because he was such a humanitarian and he couldn't let anyone suffer. If he could do anything, he would.

"We do this together then." He said looking a little pissed off but determined.

"We need to get captured. They aren't going to hurt us, we know that much. But we need to get into the place where Voldermort is hiding." I said. He looked very unsure of this whole thing but he would never let me go it alone. That much I was sure of because we had made a pact and I knew that if I were in his shoes, I would do the same thing. At that moment, Dumbledore called for attention.

"Ashleigh, Drew, James and Sirius…I need you guys to go with Mad-Eye, there are some Death Eaters attacking innocent muggles and Lily and Remus, I need you to stay here. As far as they are concerned you aren't in the Order yet. They already suspect those ones. And you two still have family. I have something else for you to do." Dumbledore said. When he said the word Family, my heart ached for my own family and I stole a glance toward Sirius who looked more than ready to fight. James looked ready too but I could tell by the worried look on Lily's face that she was not happy about him going without her. At once we left the house and we followed Mad-Eye into our first real mission. Drew grabbed my arm once we arrived at the scene and pulled me back.

"We save their Asses and then we get captured. I don't want anything happening to them." He said. I nodded and we separated because there was no way they would grab us if we were together. I saw the hooded figures and I felt anger surge through me. I hated them and their prejudice ways. Immediately I started to stun and throw out curses and jinxes to stop them. I bound up a few of them and knocked them out cold with just my fist. I felt no remorse as I saw blood dripping from their nose to their mouth. I was pulled into the air by my ankle while I was enjoying the fact that I had somehow hurt them. I had hesitated a second too long because now they had me in their grasp.  
"You filthy witch, I am going to kill you." I heard a familiar voice but I could not place it. I heard her scream out and then I fell to the ground with hard force. Before I could react I was thrown back and then everything started to swirl around. I was out of breath once I stopped. I looked around and I saw once word on the gate, West Minister. I knew that I was in a graveyard and it was probably impossible to apparate out of here, hence the portal key. I didn't have a chance to pick up any more clues because a black cloth was pulled over my face. I couldn't see a thing I could only hear laughing. I sensed that Drew was near but I couldn't tell where he was and that part scared me. I struggled to make it look as if I didn't want to be there. They walked me from my landing spot and into a building of some kind. I was pushed onto my knees and then the cloth was taken off. I wildly looked around and there were at least fifty Death Eaters surrounding Drew and me nowhere in sight. I finally stopped searching and Voldermort was waiting in front of me.

"Unbind her… she wont be going anywhere." He said the Death Eater was holding onto me flicked his wand and the ropes disappeared. I pulled my hands in front of me and rubbed my wrists. All I could think about was that I needed to invest in a couple of wands because mine were always getting taken away.  
"So you came here to save your mom. Am I right?" He asked me. My mouth fell open in surprise because I couldn't have been that transparent. He laughed at my reaction and I got the chills up and down my back. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"I am surprised at you… I thought you would be smarter than you are. You see, I didn't know if my plan would work, but I attempted it anyway. I have the ability to change your dreams and that is what I did. Although some things in that are true, your grandmother is dead. Your mother however, was killed long ago. Her mind was weak and I had probed into it too much. I had killed her by killing her mind." He said. I felt any hope that was within evaporate. There was no mom and there never would be. All my dreams of the two of us getting to know each other and having a real mother and daughter relationship were dashed away by this horrible man. I wanted to cry, I wanted to breakdown and just let the hurt wash over me but I was determined not to let him see. I couldn't let him have the satisfaction. He waved his hand two Death Eaters grabbed each arm and dragged me away.

I was once again stuck inside of a cell and it didn't have a muggle lock on it. I concentrated hard on the lock willing it to open for me. I knew that some could do magic without a wand and in some cases I could to but I hadn't practiced this one. I sighed and sat against the wall. The concrete floor was cold and uncomfortable. I no longer sensed Drew near me and I was beginning to lose all hope of ever getting out. I looked around the room realized that there was no way to get out unless someone opened the door. Voldermort walked up to the door and stood there waiting for me to look up at him. I had my head hung and I wasn't going to give him my attention.

"Look at me. I am not going to hurt you." He said in an almost gentle voice. I glanced his way and he seemed to look softer to me.

"Your friends have abandoned you, your parents have abandoned you. Your true mother didn't even want you…" The mere mention of my mother I concentrated hard to get into his mind, but he wouldn't let me in. He just smiled an evil smile and I wanted to kill him.

"You cant get into my mind. Nobody can." He said.

"I bet Dumbledore can." I said challengingly. He flicked his wand and I felt unbearable pain vibrate through my body, I tried not to scream but I couldn't help it. I started to scream and he laughed. The pain faded and I lay on the ground panting. I was too tired to fight anymore.  
"I'll leave you here to think about that." He said and I heard his footsteps echo in the hall. I closed my eyes and a single tear slid down my cheek.

"All you have to do is give him your powers and he will let you go." I heard a voice say.

"Sure, I'll just let him kill me to get my powers." I said in a sarcastic tone. I turned around to see Joe standing right outside the cell door.

"Come over to the dark side. He can give you everything you have ever desired. He will treat you as a England's own Princess." Joe said. I turned my head and I heard him sigh before his own steps could be heard echoing through the hall. I thought about what Joe said and he was right. If I went over to the dark side, I would be treated as one of his prized Death Eaters. I would be given privileges beyond my wildest dreams.


	52. Chapter 52

Joe and I were playing exploding snap on the floor in between the cell doors. I was winning just when Voldermort strolled in and Joe jumped up immediately bowing. I bowed my head at once too without even realizing it.  
"I see that the two of you have gotten very close." He said and Joe stood by him looking down at me. It was my turn to respond.

"Yes, Joe has definitely taught me a lot." I said standing up. Voldermort looked into my eyes and I could tell he was boring into my mind. He nodded with a satisfied nod before letting me out of the cell.

"I would like you to join us in our common goal." Voldermort said and he walked before me. I was feeding off of Joe's feeling and his wants. That instantly made me feel just like Joe, so when Voldermort was searching through my mind, he could sense that I was faithful to him because Joe was faithful to him. That was easier than acting.  
"I would love to join you My Lord." I said. He glanced back at me and then he continued on. I followed him until he stopped in an open area. He motioned for me to sit down with him.

"I need to know a few things. Who is in the Order?" Voldermort asked getting right down to business. I didn't know what to tell him because I didn't want to give many names away. I only knew of a select few and I was still loyal to my best friends.

"The people that I know of are the typical ones. Drew and I, Dumbledore and Sirus, Mad-eye and James." I said naming off the people who were fighting with me the other day.

"You don't know of any others?" He asked me. I shook my head no with confidence. I felt him divulge into my mind once more but there weren't many places or things he could see. I was still feeding off of Joe's feelings and in some cases he own suspicions.

"Very well… you know I don't think you have what it takes to be a Death Eater. You have to kill for the job." He said. I no longer wanted to be there, I didn't want to kill anyone but I kept my guard up. I kept the act that I was using strong. There was an explosion that knocked me off my feet and I was pushed backwards. At first I thought that Voldermort had felt my true feelings and was going to kill me. It wasn't until I felt a familiar hand under my arm that I realized that the cavalry had come to save me. Sirius had his hand around my arm and was pulling me out to safety. The rest of the Order was fighting against Voldermort and his followers. I saw Dumbledore, James, Drew, Mad-Eye and a few others that I didn't recognize fighting. Sirius had pulled me beyond the gates of the cemetery and he pulled out a piece of trash, which was a portkey that sent us flying towards our home. I wanted to go back and fight but Sirius wouldn't allow it. Lily was there and she hugged me as soon as she saw me.

"What was it like? Did he hurt you?" Sirius asked looking very concerned. I kept staring at the door wishing that they would make it through there, make it home alive.

"Just a tiny bit, nothing major." I said. Sirius gave me a weird look and then I turned to him.

"Sirius… what's my favorite color?" I asked him, knowing that he would know the answer.

"Blue…" He said and I raised my eyebrow at him. "Sky blue." He quickly corrected himself. I nodded knowing that I hadn't fallen asleep and that I really was home and not in that terrible cell any longer.

"How did you get out of your cell?" He asked me.  
"I pretended to want to join him. He believed me because I was feeding off of Joe's feelings and wants. It was easy." I saw him straighten a bit more when I mentioned Joe.

"So you were in there with Joe?" He asked.

"Well seeing as he is a Death Eater, I am sure she was." Lily said and I silently thanked her for not letting a fight happen. He immediately shut up and just hugged me and pulled me into him.

"I love you, I can't lose you Ashleigh." He said kissing my forehead. I laid my head against his chest and I felt his heart beating. I closed my eyes and took in his familiar scent. I never wanted to be away from him again.

"Kiss me." I whispered late one night in bed. Sirius had just got in from patrolling and he looked exhausted. He had just sat down on the edge of the bed and I was rubbing his shoulders. He bent his head back and I gave him a light kiss on the lips. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting his shoulders droop.

"They killed McNeil tonight and injured Arthur." He said keeping his voice low. I stopped rubbing his shoulders and came around his body to face him. I had to make sure he was serious.

"Are you serious?" I asked him searching both of his eyes for any type of kidding. But I knew that he was serious, there was never any more kidding like there was in school. Now days we were all very serious.

"Unfortunately." He said. I continued rubbing his shoulders and kissed his ear. We were quiet for a long time. Sirius moaned as I gently kissed the top of his head.

"Ashleigh, I cant live like this anymore." He said in a small voice.  
"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"This war, everything. I am so tired of losing someone each week. He is winning, he is annihilating us one by one and I don't know how much longer we can stand against him." Sirius said lying down on his side. He was facing me and tucking my hair behind my ear to see my face fully. I knew exactly what he had meant. I was constantly afraid for one of my dear friends and for my own life on many occasions. I wasn't sure how much longer I could last before I lost it.

"We are going to get through this war. We are going to get married and have tons of kids and weekly bar b cues with all of our friends. We aren't going to lose anyone else. Sirius… Love will get us through even the toughest parts." I said tracing his face with my finger. His face seemed a bit sunken as if he hadn't been getting enough sleep or enough to eat. Which was true because he was always fighting. He volunteered for every thing even when he was exhausted.

"Ash…" He started but I put my finger against his lips.

"No… and by the way, you are going to take a couple of days off for rest. I am not going to lose you just because you are exhausted. I mean it. YOU need rest." I said giving him a kiss on the lips and putting my fingers over his eyes making him close them. When I pulled away he was sound asleep.

Lily and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner for everyone that was coming over to celebrate Arthur and Molly's wedding. They had a quick wedding and the air in the entire house was light and full of love and romance.   
"I had always liked Molly, she was sweet. Although I never did get to know her that well, her being a couple of years ahead of me." Lily said mixing a pot of soup. I saw a glow around Molly every time I saw her lately and I knew why. She was pregnant. I didn't tell anyone about my suspicions. The way I found out was because I was talking to her a couple of weeks ago and I had touched her hand to assure her that Arthur was going to be just fine when I felt two heart beats and then I saw a little baby kicking inside of her. I just smiled broadly and kept that secret to myself.  
"She's pregnant." I blurted out to Lily who stopped what she was doing and stared at me with her mouth wide open.

"No way!" She said quite loudly. I laughed and put my finger over my mouth to quiet her down.

"Yup, I saw it when I touched her one day. I bet that's why they got married. They other day she was telling me how her family were traditionalists and they believed in marriage before anything happened." I said. Lily grabbed my hand and we both started jumping up and down and we started to giggle. Sometimes we were such schoolgirls.

"What is all the ruckus in here?" Molly asked coming through the door. Lily looked at her stomach and started to giggle again. She ran over to Molly and placed her hand over her stomach.

"Oh My! Did Arthur tell you? Oh I could kill him!" Molly said looking flustered.

"Oh no, sweetie, Ashleigh knew that you were pregnant. I can't believe it! How do you feel? Are you ok? Here, sit down." Lily said leading her toward a chair.

"Oh… Um, I feel fine. I am a bit scared. I don't know if I'm ready and to be quite honest, I didn't want to have a child until the war was over." Molly said looking distraught.

"Oh sweetie. A child is a blessing and after all the death we have witnessed, we need a blessing. I am so happy for you!" I said. And then I thought about Sirius and how I wanted to have children with him. I wanted to have children with him so badly but even I knew that I shouldn't. I shouldn't have any children until after the war. It would be way too dangerous. Not after I have lost every family member since the beginning of this war.

We had a beautiful wedding reception for the happy couple and Dumbledore told them to go and have an amazing honeymoon. They deserved it.

"That's going to be us one day." I said sitting on Sirius' lap. He had his old laugh back and that completely sexy smile.

"How about today?" He asked. I thought he was kidding and laughed but then he looked completely serious.  
"Are you serious?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded. I did want to marry him but today?

"Come on, we can go to the courthouse right now and get married." Sirius said pushing the subject.

"Who's going to get married?" James asked sitting next to us with Lily.

"Us." Sirius said still looking me in the eyes. He was searching for something, anything. I did want to but I also wanted a fairy tale wedding. I wanted a grand wedding with my parents there and for them to walk me down the isle. Then I remembered that they were no longer here and that grand fairy tale wedding would never happen.

"Ok, lets go. Right now. A small wedding with only our loved ones." I said kissing Sirius. He jumped up and picked me up and twirled me around.

"You can't get married!" James protested.

"Why not?" I asked him.

"Because I was hoping to have a double wedding. The four of us." He said looking a bit shy. He turned to Lily who looked shocked.

"Lets get married right now too. It would be amazing." He said holding her hand. She looked as if she was melting at his touch and I got the sense that she was going to say yes.

"YES!" She squealed and they embraced each other with such vigor. Drew was walking past us and I grabbed his hand.

"Drew! You have to walk me down the aisle." I said. If I couldn't have my dad walk me down the aisle, I had to have Drew do it.

"What are you talking about?" He asked looking completely puzzled.

"Sirius and I are going to get married tonight." I said I could not wipe the smile off of my face for anything. He was about to protest when Dumbledore came into the room looking panicked.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"It's Remus and Peter, they are in trouble. You guys need to go now to help." Dumbledore said and we all rushed out of the house leaving the image and dreams of a double wedding behind us. I don't know what we were thinking but we couldn't get married, not during the war with so much going on.

"When we come back we will do it." Sirius said sensing my disappointment. I just squeezed his hand as we apparated to the spot that Dumbledore told us about. I looked around and saw four death eaters laughing triumphantly. I suddenly wanted to cry for Remus but I still couldn't bring myself to feel much for Peter and I didn't know why. Ever since I had met him, I could never truly care about him. There was just something about him that held me back. Somehow, I didn't trust him as much as the other guys.

I was the first one to Remus and he looked like he was dead and I suddenly couldn't move. I had loved Remus for so long as a good friend that I would absolutely die if he did. I fell to my knees and picked up Remus' head and gently placed it on my lap. His lips moved a bit and he groaned out in pain. There was no way that I would be able to apparate with him in this condition. But I still had to get him away from danger.

"Remus…. Remus, can you hear me? It's Ashleigh." I said bending down low and whispering into his ear. He nodded and muttered my name slightly. I shifted him and he gave out another low moan. I pulled my wand out and conjured up a stretcher to place him on. I shifted him back and forth until he was onto the stretcher fully. Then I raised the stretcher and told him not to move or he would fall. Before I could get him to safety, a flash of red light came straight at me. I ducked just in time and made sure Remus was hidden in the bushes before I got ready to fight back. I took a quick peek around the corner and another flash of light came directly at me. I pulled back again and then I counted to three before coming out ready with an incantation. My own flash of red light came out when I jumped out and I heard a yell. I chanced a glance in the direction of the curse and I saw Bellatrix stunned on the floor. I suddenly felt satisfied.

I took a quick look around and saw no one else that I knew. I needed to get Remus some help. I conjured up a broom and I attached Remus securely to the stretcher. He was locked in tight. I started to bind the stretcher to the broom so that I could fly him out of there and to St. Mungos. Just as I was about to take off with Remus in tow I saw Peter cry out in pain and Sirius was completely out numbered. I cursed under my breath and placed a disillusionment charm on Remus before running into the action with Sirius.

"You're dead to me!" I heard a death eater scream at Sirius. I started to duel with two death eaters at once and I was winning. Once the odds turned against them, the death eaters disappeared leaving behind the wounded and the exhausted. Sirius ran to Peter who was on the ground limp. He was completely knocked out. I ran back to Remus and undid the charm that had kept him safe from any other death eaters.

"Peter was taken to St. Mungos with Dumbledore, how is Remus?" Sirius asked once he was by my side. I hopped on the broom and shook my head wishing that Remus were ok.


End file.
